28 NATURE STUDY BY GRADES 



she heard the sound, too, and at once crouched low down, 

 close to the floor, and started toward the closet. What do 

 you think caused the sound? 



Pupil. A mouse ! 



Teacher. She glided over the bare floor, for the carpets 

 were all taken up, without making the slightest noise, for 

 she had 



Pupil. Soft cushions on the bottoms of all her feet. 



Teacher. To reach the closet, the door of which was 

 partly open, she first tried to pass between a chair that stood 

 by it and a dustpan that leaned against it. She put her 

 nose between the dustpan and the chair, but drew back. 

 Why did she not go through ? 



Pupil. Her "whiskers" or "feelers," which are just as 

 wide as her body, could not go through so narrow a space. 



Teacher. That's right ; she feared, if she attempted to 

 crowd her body through, that she would knock down the 

 dustpan and what harm would that do ? 



Pupil. It would scare away the mouse. 



Teacher. So Miss Tabby backed out and crept around 

 the chair and entered the open closet door. Now, it was so 

 dark in the closet that I could not see what the cat did in 

 there, but she did not seem to mind the darkness at all. 

 Why? 



Pupil. Cats can see in the dark. 



Teacher. That is true. Why do cats need to see in the 

 dark? 



Pupil. The mice come out more at night than in the 

 daytime. We scare them away in the daytime, but we are 

 asleep at night. 



Teacher. Yes, night seems to be a good time for the cat 

 to catch its prey. For a little while I heard nothing from 



