THE TALE
OF CURLY-TAIL

Daddy Do-Little Shook His Japanese Parasol

The Tale
of
Curly Tail

TEXT BY LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH

AUTHOR OF
JOLLY POLLY and CURLY TAIL, TIDDLYWINKS
COMICAL ANIMAL STORIES, ETC.

“The Child’s Book of Laughter”

ILLUSTRATED BY MAE H. SCANNELL.

“JUST RIGHT BOOKS”

ALBERT WHITMAN COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

CHICAGO ILLINOIS

THE TALE OF CURLY-TAIL

Copyright, 1923, by Albert Whitman & Co.
Chicago, U. S. A.

A JUST RIGHT BOOK

MADE IN THE U. S. A.

PREFACE

The happy adventures of Curly-Tail and the fourteen Little Darling Dogs are simply told in this book. They are instructive stories and are full of humor and make enjoyable reading to all children.

Daddy Do-Little, the unusual Dog, and Pedro, the Parrot, are amusing characters.

“A Visit to Mrs. Santa Claus,” is something new and original for awakening the child’s attention. This book is of easy vocabulary and will aid the child’s learning.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Curly-Tail Jumped On a Rocking Horse

THE TALE OF CURLY-TAIL

A VISIT TO MRS. SANTA CLAUS

Daddy Do-Little it is true,

Wears a coat red, white, and blue,

He’s happier than I can tell,

The new coat fits him very well!

One December day, Curly-Tail, the dearest little dog in the world, jumped upon his Rocking Horse and rocked away, away, away.

He said, “I will go to Santa Claus’ work-shop, perhaps I will find our old Parrot.”

He rocked away all day, and when night came he found a little cave in the woods. He went in and curled up and fell asleep.

Next day he woke up early and cried,

“I’ve lost the right path, without fail.

This is a joke on Curly-Tail!”

He rocked away, away, away, again, and soon he said, “Some one is coming down the path, I hear the patter, patter of little feet.”

Then he set up a shout, for who should be coming to meet him but the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs?

They all set up a shout, crying,

“Ha, ha, ha, the lost is found,

Rocking, rocking o’er the ground.”

Curly-Tail got down from the Rocking Horse and said, “I am going to Santa Claus’ work-shop and this Rocking Horse knows the way, who will go with me?”

“I will, I will, I will,” cried the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs in one breath, so Curly-Tail got on the Rocking Horse and rocked away, away, away, and the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs ran on behind.

“I see a light ahead,” shouted the first Little Darling Dog. “I see a light,” shouted the next, and the next.

They came to a little wee house in the woods.

Curly-Tail without waiting for an invitation rocked right in the open door, crying, “Hurrah for Mrs. Santa Claus! Here we are, the whole Curly-Tail family!”

Mrs. Santa Claus was so surprised she cried,

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, by my frilled cap,

I surely must be taking a nap!”

She tried to count the Little Darling Dogs, but they danced about her so fast, she never knew which ones she counted twice, and which ones she never counted at all!

Hurrah for Mrs. Santa Claus

Curly-Tail begged, “Please let us go into Santa Claus work-shop!”

Mrs. Santa Claus said,

“This thing I will tell you true,

Such an idea will not do.”

She said Santa Claus was not at home, and she never let any one go in his work-shop.

Then the first Little Darling Dog sat down on the floor and began to grumble, and the next Little Darling Dog began to weep, and the next Little Darling Dog got a scowly face, and such a noise you never heard.

Only Curly-Tail kept good natured.

He rocked gently to and fro on his wonderful Rocking Horse and said, “You make as much noise as Daddy Do-Little when he is lonesome.”

Mrs. Santa Claus said, “Who is Daddy Do-Little?”

Curly-Tail replied,

“He’s the laziest animal in the woods,

He always did little if he could.”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs said,

“If you could only hear him grumbling,

You would think ’twas thunder rumbling.”

Mrs. Santa Claus said, “If the old fellow had a new coat, perhaps he would not be so lazy or grumble so much. Here is my work basket, and some cloth, go to work if you please.”

Mrs. Santa Claus opened a slide in the wall and disappeared!

“Ha, ha, ha,” cried the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs.

Curly-Tail cried, “Hurrah! hurrah, we will make Daddy Do-Little a new coat out of this cloth.”

My, how busy they were!

One Little Darling Dog got a tape measure and measured the cloth.

One Little Darling Dog got a pair of scissors and went, “snip, snip, snip.”

One Little Darling Dog began to unwind a spool of thread, and the other Little Darling Dogs sat around in groups threading needles!

Curly-Tail skipped about giving directions.

Soon they were all sewing on Daddy Do-Little’s new coat!

“Oh, oh, oh,” cried the Little Darling Dogs, as they pricked themselves on the needles.

Curly-Tail cried,

“Cheer up, cheer up, we’re nearly through

We’ll make a coat that just fits you.”

Then the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs began to sing a song and their needles flew faster and faster.

They would interrupt one another by shouting, “Who has the thimble? Who has the thread? Where is my needle?” and still the song sounded beautifully.

Curly-Tail cried,

“Where will we get buttons do you suppose

To finish up this animal’s clothes?”

Then they heard thump, bump, down the chimney fell six little brass buttons.

They sewed the brass buttons on the coat, and soon it was finished.

Then a voice cried,

“Come into the chimney, ’tis large and wide,

There’s room for the Curly-Tails side by side.”

They looked toward the chimney.

There, sure enough were little seats, and little tables. On each table was a plate with a pie smoking hot.

How they all enjoyed their lunch!

They cried out,

“We are happy now because,

Of mince pie, Mrs. Santa Claus!”

Mrs. Santa Claus opened the panel in the wall and went back into the house. She asked to see the coat, which they had tied up in a neat bundle.

The first Little Darling Dog began to untie the string which held the bundle, and the bundle hopped about in the strangest way.

Then the next Little Darling Dog said, “Let me untie it,” and the next one said, “I will untie it in a minute.”

At that very moment there, before their very noses, the bundle jumped out of the window and was gone!

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs thought their work was all lost and they began to weep and wail, but Curly-Tail said,

“Cheer up, cheer up, for by the by,

We had the nicest kind of pie!”

So, the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs all dried their eyes and went to the door.

Curly-Tail jumped on his Rocking Horse.

The Bundle Flew Out of the Open Window

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs rubbed their eyes for they saw fourteen Rocking Horses standing in a row.

They shouted,

“We are so happy now because,

We have a present from Santa Claus.”

Curly-Tail said,

“I hope each horse is trusty and good,

We’ll rock away through the deep green wood.”

When they came to Daddy Do-Little’s house in the woods they all set up a shout, for there he stood in the doorway with his new coat on!

He was happy you may be sure, and they all rocked round him on their wonderful Rocking Horses.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR

In January as you know,

We always make some men of snow,

And if you study well each page,

You’ll find the Parrot in his cage.

Little Curly-Tail called out one morning,

“A Happy New Year, A Happy New Year,

And January at last is here.”

Curly-Tail curled his little tail up tighter and tighter, as he ran down stairs three steps at a time, and he set the table and got breakfast, before Daddy Do-Little had a chance to answer him.

Curly-Tail kept humming over and over, “A Happy New Year, A Happy New Year.”

“Hush, what is that?

A-rap, a-tap,”

cried out Daddy Do-Little, suddenly.

Sure enough, there was a “rap, tap, tapping,” at the door, but when they got to the door, no one was there.

“Hard lines for one of any age,

To lose a parrot in a cage.”

said Daddy Do-Little.

No One Was at the Door

Just then, they heard a “rap, tap, tapping,” on the window pane.

They ran quickly of course to the window but could see no one.

They sat down to breakfast and Daddy Do-Little said, “More sugar, please.”

A voice spoke up, “More sugar, please.”

Curly-Tail said,

“It must be the Parrot, I’ll leave the table

And find him soon as I am able.”

He looked about in-doors and out-doors and still he could see no one.

Now Daddy Do-Little was a famous old cook, and he felt like cooking that morning, but he called,

“We are out of sugar, how do you suppose

I can make ginger-snaps, goodness knows.”

At that, Curly-Tail got out his little red cap and cape and market basket, and said, “I will go to the grocers and get the sugar.”

“Get the sugar,” repeated a familiar voice, and Daddy Do-Little said,

“The Parrot is hiding, ’tis very true

We’ll find him now, whatever we do.”

They searched one hour and sixteen minutes but could not find the Parrot.

Little Curly-Tail went out of the house, “click,” went the gate and he started down the road.

Daddy Do-Little came to the door waving his red pocket handkerchief frantically, and shouted,

“A handkerchief for your little nose,

You had better carry I suppose.”

Sure enough, Curly-Tail did have a cold, and so he came back good naturedly, and got the handkerchief and started again to the grocers after the sugar.

This time he did not even get as far as the garden gate when Daddy Do-Little rapped on the window, crying,

“It seems to me it’s rather funny,

To go for sugar without money.”

“And He Started Down the Road”

Curly-Tail laughed and came back with a hop and a skip and a bound.

Will you believe it? It took Daddy Do-Little three quarters of an hour to find his rusty-hinged old pocket book, and when he found it, it only had twenty-five cents in it.

Then they looked in the old cracker jar and found sixteen hundred pennies!

“Pennies will do, pennies will do,” called a merry voice, but they could see no one.

Curly-Tail started again.

By this time it was snowing and blowing.

“The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs Came Trooping Down the Road”

“Click,” went the gate, he thought he was off in good earnest this time, but Daddy Do-Little cried again,

“Will you ask for white, or brown,

When you come into the town?”

Then a very surprising thing happened.

A great shout was heard and the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs came trooping down the road.

Daddy Do-Little was thoroughly and entirely cross at this unlooked for interruption, and he shouted,

“Be it fairy tale or fable,

To entertain them I’m not able.”

Curly-Tail danced up to him and whispered, “Snowmen, let the Darling Dogs stay outside and make Snowmen.”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs came on with a whoop and a bound, and Daddy Do-Little shouted,

“Make some Snowmen on the ground,

Make some Snowmen jolly and round.”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs went to work with a will, and Curly-Tail started off saying, “I will really, truly get the sugar this time.”

Just as he was nearly out of sight of the house, he heard a great shout, and the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs ran after him and brought him back.

Daddy Do-Little said,

“There are several kinds of sugar ’tis true,

White, and brown, and red, and blue.”

It took them all forty-seven minutes to decide what kind of sugar they wanted for their ginger snaps, and what kind of sugar to have on the frosting.

All this time, the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs jumped up and down and said, “Oh Daddy Do-Little are you really going to make nice, moist ginger snaps? And can we all stay to lunch?”

Daddy Do-Little Made Nice Moist Ginger Snaps

By and by Curly-Tail slipped off, and this time he went on safely to the grocery store.

He got brown sugar to put in the ginger snaps and red sugar to put on for frosting.

He went back home with a hop, and a skip, and a bound, and helped the Fourteen Little Darling Dogs make Snowmen, while Daddy Do-Little made the nice, moist ginger snaps.

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs were so cold they begged to come in and warm their paws, so by and by they all shook off the snow and crept quietly into the parlor and sat down in a semi-circle about the parlor stove, and warmed their paws.

“A-kit-chew,” sneezed the First Little Darling Dog.

“A-kit-chew,” sneezed the second.

Just as Daddy Do-Little came to the door to scold, the Parrot came out from his hiding place under the sofa and said,

“It really puts me in a rage,

To spend my life inside this cage.”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs crowded around and said, “It must be a magic cage, see it move.”

Curly-Tail said, “Where did you come from, Sir. I have looked for you over hill and dale.”

“Poor old Polly,” said Daddy Do-Little.

This put the Parrot in a rage at once and he shouted,

“It is, Sir, the greatest folly,

To give a man, the name of Polly!”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs took out their fourteen little pocket handkerchiefs and laughed until they cried, waving their handkerchiefs in the air.

The sun had come out so bright and warm the Snowmen began to melt.

The Parrot cried,

“If you’d take out a bucket of water or so

It might freeze them up again you know.”

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs got fourteen little pails of water, and carried out water to pour on their Snowmen.

Curly-Tail let the parrot out of his cage, and Daddy Do-Little finished his moist ginger snaps.

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs went happily homeward each with a moist ginger snap, with red sugar upon it.

Late at night the Parrot called,

“To tell my name I am afraid,

Just listen to that serenade.”

The Snowmen were singing in the moonlight,

“Happy New Year you hear us call,

A Happy New Year to one and all,

From Mexico the Parrot came,

And little PEDRO is his name.”

“Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah,” cried Curly-Tail, “at last we know the Parrot’s name,” they looked about, but the Parrot was nowhere to be seen!

The Snowmen Were Singing in the Moonlight

TABLE MANNERS

To learn some manners at the table,

Every animal is able,

To be polite, please do not fail,

When entertained by Curly-Tail.

One day Daddy Do-Little called out,

“Somebody is late, it makes me pale,

To receive no answer from Curly-Tail.”

There was no answer sure enough.

The old clock struck twelve, and one, and still Curly-Tail did not come home.

Daddy Do-Little got out his new yellow and green walking stick, and started out to look for Curly-Tail.

Early that morning Curly-Tail had gone with a hop, and a skip, and a bound into Farmer Brown’s garden to get an apple to roast for dinner.

“Click,” went a spring, and for the first time in his life Curly-Tail was caught in a trap!

He said, “If I could only uncurl my tail, if I could only uncurl my tail I would feel happier.”

His tail was caught in the trap.

He was wondering what he would do when he heard the “patter, patter, patter,” of many little feet.

Then a most delightful thing happened!

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs were coming into Farmer Brown’s garden to get ripe, red, rosy apples to roast for dinner.

They came with a hop, and a skip and a bound, and suddenly stopped, for they saw poor Curly-Tail caught in the trap.

It took them one hour and fourteen minutes to find out how to open the trap, but at last the spring gave with a “click, click, click” and Curly-Tail was free once more.

They all were so glad to set Curly-Tail free that they danced round and round in a circle, and they all forgot to get the ripe, red, rosy apples for dinner.

They Danced Round and Round in a Circle

The Fourteen Little Darling Dogs invited Curly-Tail to come to their home for dinner, which he gladly did.