Stories of Animal Sagacity | Page 3

again caught in a trap.
You will agree with me that Pussy was wise in going to her best friends
for help when in distress; and foolish, having once suffered, again to
run into the same danger.

You, my young reader, will be often entrapped, if you lack strength to
resist temptation. Your kind friends at home will, I am sure, help you as
far as they have the power; but, that they may do so, you must on all
occasions trust them.
AFFECTION EXHIBITED BY A CAT.
I was one day calling in Dorsetshire on a clever, kind old lady, who
showed me a beautiful tabby cat, coiled up before the fire. "Seventeen
years ago," said she, "that cat's mother had a litter. They were all
ordered to be drowned with the exception of one. The servant brought
me one. It was a tortoise-shell. `No,' I said; `that will always be looking
dirty. I will choose another.' So I put my hand into the basket, and drew
forth this tabby. The tabby has loved me ever since. When she came to
have a family, she disappeared; but the rain did not, for it came pouring
down through the ceiling: and it was discovered that Dame Tabby had
made a lying-in hospital for herself in the thatched roof of the house.
The damage she did cost several pounds; so we asked a friend who had
a good cook, fond of cats, to take care of Tabby the next time she gave
signs of having a family, as we knew she would be well fed. We sent
her in a basket completely covered up; and she was shut into a room,
where she soon exhibited a progeny of young mewlings. More than the
usual number were allowed to survive, and it was thought that she
would remain quietly where she was. Not so. On the first opportunity
she made her escape, and down she came all the length of the village,
and early in the morning I heard her mewing at my bed-room door to
be let in. When I had stroked her back and spoken kindly to her, off she
went to look after her nurslings. From that day, every morning she
came regularly to see me, and would not go away till she had been
spoken to and caressed. Having satisfied herself that I was alive and
well, back she would go. She never failed to pay me that one visit in
the morning, and never came twice in the day, till she had weaned her
kittens; and that very day she came back, and nothing would induce her
to go away again. I had not the heart to force her back. From that day to
this she has always slept at the door of my room."
Surely you will not be less grateful to those who brought you up than

was my old friend's cat to her. Acts, not mere words, show the sincerity
of our feelings. Consider how you are acting towards them each hour
and day of your life. Are you doing your best to act well, whether at
home, at school, or at play?
THE CAT AND HER YOUNG MISTRESSES.
My friend Mrs F--gave me a very touching anecdote.
A lady she knew, residing in Essex, once had two young daughters.
They had a pet cat which they had reared from a kitten, and which was
their constant companion. The sisters, however, were both seized with
scarlet fever, and died. The cat seemed perfectly to understand what
had taken place, and, refusing to leave the room, seated herself on the
bed where they lay, in most evident sorrow. When the bodies of the
young girls were placed in their small coffins, she continued to move
backwards and forwards from one to the other, uttering low and
melancholy sounds. Nothing could induce her all the time to take food,
and soon after the interment of her fond playmates she lay down and
passed away from life.
This account, given by the mother of the children, makes me quite
ready to believe in the truth of similar anecdotes.
Tender affection is like a beautiful flower: it needs cultivation. As cold
winds and pelting showers injure the fair blossoms, so passionate
temper, sullen behaviour, or misconduct, will destroy the love which
should exist between brothers and sisters, and those whose lot is cast
together. Cherish affectionate feelings in your hearts. Be kind and
gentle to all around, and your friends will love you more even than the
cat I have told you about loved her mistresses.
THE CAT WHICH DIED OF GRIEF.
A lady in France possessed a cat which exhibited great affection for her.
She accompanied her everywhere, and when she sat down always lay at
her feet. From