8. This she did for a long time every day, and when, afterward, she caught mice for her kittens, one mouse was laid aside for the lady. If the kittens tried to eat this, she gave them a little pat, as if she said, “That is not for you.” 9. After a while the lady would take the mouse, and thank puss with a pleased look and a kind tone, and then give it to the kittens, the cat looking on well pleased while they ate it. LESSON III. _WHAT THE CAT WEARS._ [Illustration] 1. Come, Jessie, take your cat in your lap and look at her again. Can you tell something more about her? 2. Yes! Pussy has a thick coat of soft fur to keep her warm, so that she can run out of doors in cold weather. 3. She does not need to have clothes like ours, and mamma does not ever have to mend her coat. Her fur all grows one way, and it is so thick that, when it rains, the water runs off and does not wet her skin unless it rains hard. 4. She likes to have me stroke her from her head down, but she does not like to be rubbed the other way. I know for one that it hurts more to have the hair pulled up than down. 5. She has long whiskers on each side of her mouth and nose, and some folks call them smellers. This is what I read about them in the “Cat’s Picture-Book”: 6. “I dare say you have seen a cat stick his whiskers out straight on each side of his face. Let us see what he does it for. 7. “Have you not seen a cat creep through a hole that seemed too small for him? I have, and I used to wonder why he did not stick fast. 8. “But Tom knows what he is about. He comes to the hole and spreads out his whiskers, and if they can get through without touching, he knows there is room for his body, and so he goes on.” 9. Pussy’s ears are large and stand up straight, so that she can hear the least nibble of a mouse, or the sly tread of a rat. 10. She has paws on her fore legs which she uses like hands. Her paws have each five toes, but her hind feet have only four toes each. Some few cats have more toes on each foot. 11. Dogs wag their tails when they are pleased, but pussy waves hers from side to side when the boys plague her, and she is angry. _WHO STOLE THE APPLES?_ [Illustration] “Who stole the apples?” “I,” said dog Snow—“to play with, you know; I stole the apples.” “Who saw him steal?” “I,” said the cat—“mewed ‘Snow, don’t do that: Don’t steal the apples.’” LESSON IV. _PATCH AND THE MOUSE._ [Illustration] 1. Patch was a fine old cat that lived in a farm-house, and looked after all the rats and mice that came about. She wanted to visit all the rooms where there were mouse-holes; so she learned to open doors for herself. 2. When she wanted to go out, she would jump up and hold on to the handle of the door with one paw, and with the other raise the latch; then she would drop down and push the door open.