She kept her word. She never spoke to the magpie afterwards, but was a steady friend of the owl until the day of his death; and when he did die, which was not until he was very old, he left to her, in his will, his share of the mice that lived in the neighborhood of the cottage. As to the magpie, finding that her company was no longer wanted in that part of the world, she very wisely took her flight far away to the other side of the wood. Whether she still lives there, and goes on chattering about the grand things she used to see in the Palace of the Countess von Rustenfustenmustencrustenberg, is more than I can tell you. If you want to find out, you must go to the northern part of the Duchy of Kittencorkenstringen; and then you must walk seventeen leagues and three-quarters still farther north; and then you must turn off to your right, just where you see the old fir-stump with the rook’s nest in it; and then you must walk eleven leagues and a quarter more, and then turn to your left, and after you have kept on for about fifteen leagues more, you will see the wood where the magpie lives; and then if you walk quite through it to the other side, you will see the old woman’s cottage; and, if it should happen to be a fine day, I dare say you will see her sitting in the sunshine spinning, and, curled round beside her, the Contented Cat. * * * * * “What a nice story, Impty,” said Dolly, as the black kitten purred out the last word. “And don’t you just love that old owl?” “I always _did_ like owls myself,” Impty answered. “They seem so much more like cats than birds. Their feathers are so thick they look like fur, and then, owls see in the dark as well as cats do, and they eat mice, and are really _most_ respectable. But good night, now,” he added, jumping down from the bed, “we’ve had such a long story-time this evening, that I must go to sleep at once, if I am to have another tale ready for you to-morrow.” THE FOURTH NIGHT “We sat up so disgracefully late last night,” began Impty, yawning, “that I’m sleepy yet. _I_ had to go to Cat-Land, you know, and although that’s very pleasant, still, it isn’t much of a rest.” “What are you going to tell me to-night?” Dolly asked, as she made a place on the pillow for the black kitten. “To-night it’s going to be a shorter story,” Impty replied. “They call it, in Cat-Land, ‘The Cat Who Married a Mouse.’” [Illustration: THE CAT WHO MARRIED A MOUSE ] Once upon a time, a cat and a mouse made friends, and at last they grew to love each other very much, for the mouse was a clever little thing, and puss was as fine a cat as you could hope to see in a day’s journey. So they decided to marry, and live always in the same house, and be very comfortable indeed.