Produced by Alexander Bauer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) [Illustration: Alas! Poor Puss.] THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF POOR PUSS. BY LUCY GRAY, Author of "The Twin Brothers", &c., &c. EASINGWOLD: PUBLISHED BY THOMAS GILL, AMEN CORNER. EASINGWOLD: _Gill, Printer, Amen Corner._ THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF POOR PUSS. [Illustration] Poor Puss, the subject of the following memoir, was the favourite companion of Widow Wales and her little girl Julia. She departed this life in her fifth year, and was interred at the bottom of the garden, last Thursday morning at half-past eight o'clock. The cause of her death proceeded from an internal disorder and shortness of breath. For a week or more it was evident that her end was fast approaching, as her strength was nearly gone, and she was unable to perform her usual duties. The principal events in the life of poor Puss, we shall now endeavour to relate. She was born at a farm house, in the neighbourhood of Easingwold. At a very early period in life she became addicted to little petty thefts and misdemeanors, such as getting into the dairy and lapping the cream from the bowls, and stealing meat or anything that happened to be on the table, as soon as ever she had a chance. For these and other acts of transgression she frequently got a good whipping, so that she was very shy of going into the dairy again. When she got a little older, she would frequently run about in the yard, and play with old Keeper and hide herself in his kennel, where she would remain concealed behind the door and when Keeper wanted to come in, she would spring at him, and scratch his nose, but Keeper did not like such fun as this, and so he fell quite vexed, and bit a piece of her tail end, which so frightened poor Puss that she durst not come near him for a long time to come. [Illustration] The mother of poor Puss now thought it was high time that she should begin to fend for herself, and so she took her into the barn on a mousing expedition. For a long time they watched the hole of a mouse, which appeared to be the residence of a whole family, and at length the old mouse came out followed by six little ones. The old cat seized the old mouse, and killed three or four of the little ones. The young cat seized hold of one, and wanted to play with it, but it slipped into the hole and she could see no more of it. The other little mouse was running away as fast as it could, but Puss sprang at it and gave it a nip which made it quiet enough.