_Sally_: Well, Oxford, since I’m dear to you, Thankful I ought to be, For human brothers oft find fault With sisters’ fineree. Perhaps the lady in her silk And coat of costly fur, Would sometimes like my bowl of milk, If she could have my purr. For cares, they say, must come with wealth, And, Oxford, we are free To roam the house at night, by stealth, With mice for company. To sleep all night, when mice are near, Would seem a waste of time, Than ladies I am surely freer, For I can race and climb. _Oxford_: Now, Sally, there’s my own good cat, A cat of parts and sense, Your wits are sharp, I’m sure of that, People are often dense. Of all the creatures on this earth The kitten’s life is best, I’ve always known this from my birth, I pity all the rest. The men I pity very much, They cannot watch the ants, And grasshoppers, and worms, and such, In their accustomed haunts. I’d hate to be so very tall, A man I would not be, It’s easier if you are small, To climb a chestnut tree. My fur coat is a grand affair, It did not cost a cent. Were I a man and fur did wear, What hundreds would be spent! The lesson surely seems to read, And it is very plain, To make the most of what you are, With heart, and paws, and brain. [Illustration] CHAPTER XI PETER Sally and Oxford felt just alike about Peter. They could neither of them bear him. He was a fine-looking brown tiger cat with large stripes and a large white shirt-front and four white paws. He had once been a valued house-cat, but was now without a home. They suspected that Elvira sometimes gave him meals on their piazza, for they now felt the back porch belonged to them. When kittens have lived for more than a year and a half in a place and have grown into young cats, the place seems to belong to them, so Oxford stalked around as if he were a police-cat on duty, keeping out intruders. ‘Of course the back yard is mine,’ he said. ‘Indeed, I feel that I own the place more than Miss Winifred does.’ ‘But her father left it to her,’ Sally reminded him.