1. Come, Jessie! put your kitty up in the cradle, and take a good look at her. She looks very pleasant. Can you tell us anything about her? 2. Yes! the other day I saw her come out of the barn with a mouse in her mouth. 3. She would lay the mouse down and let it run a little way, and then would pounce upon it and catch it again. 4. By-and-by she got tired of playing with it, and then she bit off its head and ate it up. 5. One day I saw her creep slyly along the ground and spring upon a little bird; but it flew away out of her reach. In a little while I heard it sing up in a tree. 6. I was glad that she did not catch the bird, but she looked sorry. When she catches birds, I think she is a naughty pussy; but perhaps she does not know any better. 7. I like to hear her purr, and have her rub against my hand, for then she is good and ready to play. It is great fun to see her run round after her tail. 8. But sometimes she growls and looks cross, and then I am afraid to touch her for fear she will scratch me. 9. When she is hungry she comes and mews until she gets something to eat. Some cats will jump upon the table and steal meat, but my kitty knows better. 10. She does not like dogs. One day a strange dog came into the yard and barked at her. 11. Then her back came up, her fur stood out straight, and she growled and spit at him. 12. When he tried to bite her, she gave him a scratch on both sides of his nose, and ran up a tree out of his reach. LESSON II. _THE GRATEFUL CAT._ [Illustration] 1. A lady tells this pretty story of how a cat showed its thanks to a kind friend who had helped it in distress: 2. While living in a country place, one day the cat ate some rat-poison, but not enough to kill it. It was very ill, and cried like a little child. Its pain and heat were so great that it would dip its paws in water to cool them, though cats nearly always keep away from the water. 3. At last it went to the lady, and, mewing and looking up to her in a most pitiful way, seemed to ask for help. The lady took the poor thing in her arms, and tried in all ways she could think of to relieve it. 4. She bound it up in cool, wet cloths, and gave it medicine and gruel, and took care of it all day and night. The cat was soon better, and after a day or two it was as well as ever; and this was the way it took to show how thankful it was to the lady for her kindness: 5. One night, after she had gone up-stairs, she heard a mew at the window; and, upon opening it, there was the cat with a mouse in its mouth. 6. It had climbed up a tree that grew against the house, and, when the window opened, it came in and laid the mouse at the lady’s feet. It rubbed against her, and purred loudly, as if it said, “See what a fine mouse I have brought you!” 7. The cat thought a mouse the best of all things, and this best it gave up for itself, and brought to its best friend, the lady.