254 DOG STORIES 



A CAT-AND-DOG FRIENDSHIP. 



\June 8, 1895.] 



THE interesting letter, " A Canine Nurse," 

 in the Spectator of May i8th, recalls to 

 mind an equally curious event in cat and dog 

 life which occurred some years since in a 

 house where I was living, but with the 

 additional interest of a hen being also 

 implicated. 



In the back-kitchen premises of an old 

 manor-house, amongst hampers, and such 

 like odds and ends, a cat had a litter of 

 kittens. They were all removed but one, 

 and as the mother was frequently absent, a 

 hen began laying in a hamper close by. For 

 a time all things went well, the hen sitting on 

 her eggs and the cat nursing the kitten 

 within a few inches of each other. The 

 brood were hatched out, and almost at the 

 same time the old cat disappeared. The 

 chickens were allowed to run about on the 

 floor for sake of the warmth from a neigh- 

 bouring chimney, and the kitten was fed 

 with a saucer of milk, &c., in the same place, 



