True Stories About Dogs and Cats | Page 9

submit to from a loving child? I have seen a child lie
down with a cat for its pillow, and the cat merely move herself a little,
so as to bear the weight as easily as possible.
A cat can be taught to stand and walk on her hind legs, which seems at
first very disagreeable to her.
I remember, when I was a child, seeing a Maltese cat come in every
morning and wait till my father had finished his breakfast, then, at a
certain signal, rise up on her hind legs, and beg for her breakfast, and
take just what was given her with the utmost propriety, asking for
nothing more.
I will tell you a well-authenticated anecdote which I read the other day.
A cat had been brought up in close friendship with a bird. Now birds,
you know, are the favorite food of cats. One day she was seen suddenly
to seize and hold in her claws her feathered companion who happened
to be out of the cage.
The first thought of those who saw her was that, at last, her tiger nature
had come out, and that she was going to make a meal of her little
trusting friend; but all the cat did was to hold the trembling bird still,
and, on looking around the room, it was discovered that another cat had
come in, and that catching the bird was only the means the friendly cat
used to keep it safe till the intruder should leave the room. As soon as
the other cat was gone, she let go the bird, who it was found was not in
the least hurt.

A cat who had been petted and always kindly treated by a family of
children, was present one day when the mother thought it necessary to
strike one of them for some bad action; the cat flew violently at the
mother and tried to scratch her, and from that time she never could
strike one of the children with impunity in the presence of their faithful,
loving friend.
A friend related to me that they had a cat in her father's family who was
a great favorite, and who was particularly fond of the baby; that one
day this child was very fretful, and sat for a long time on the floor
crying, and that nothing would pacify her.
The cat was by her side on the floor, and finding herself not noticed,
and perhaps wearied at the noise, she suddenly stood up on her hind
legs and boxed the child's ears in exactly the same way in which she
was in the habit of boxing her kitten's.
It seems that this cat was not so amiable as the other, and did not object
to giving a box on the ear to a naughty child.
I have another story from a good authority which is still more in favor
of poor pussy, and puts her upon a par with the most faithful dog.
During a hard snow storm last winter, a kitten with a broken leg and
almost frozen hopped into the hall door of a gentleman's house in
Brooklyn, New York, and set up a most piteous mewing.
The master of the house ordered the servants to throw the kitten into
the street, when his little daughter, a child eight years of age, caught up
the poor little creature, and begged to be allowed to keep and nurse it.
The father, at first, refused. The child, however, begged so earnestly
that he at last allowed her to keep the kitten.
The little girl, whom we will call Emma, nursed her pet until it got
quite well. The kitten returned, in full measure, all the love of her
gentle nurse, and was never quite happy away from little Emma.
Some time afterwards, the loving child was taken severely ill, and was

confined to her bed. Kitty had grown into a cat. It was found
impossible to keep her away from the bed of her suffering friend. The
cat would watch at the door when turned out of the room, dart in again,
and mew, and jump upon the bed where little Emma lay. There Kitty
was quiet.
As the child grew more ill, it was impossible to get the cat out of the
room; until, at last, when little Emma was dying, pussy stretched
herself out near the bed, and seemed to be dying too.
The cat was taken into the next room, and put gently upon a rug.
"Take care of my poor kitten!" said the kind little Emma, as she saw
them take it away; and her loving spirit went to the land of loving
spirits.
When the sorrowing friends went into the adjoining room, the life of
her "poor kitten" had