She was a wild free thing and could not brook 

 the confinement of four walls. Where she 

 slept I never discovered, but after breakfast I 

 always found her waiting for me (and milk) 

 near the library window. When she was 

 about to become a mother a comfortable box 

 was prepared for her in a shed, and it was 

 hoped that she would use it for the interest- 

 ing event. However, she preferred a thick 

 patch of bushes in the garden, and there one 

 morning we discovered her, supremely happy, 

 with four plain kittens. Twice they were 

 transferred to the box in the shed, and twice 

 Venus bore them back to the bushes one by 

 one. While she was carrying a kitten on one 

 of these maternal excursions I met her. She 

 hesitated a moment, and then deposited the 

 kitten at my feet and mewed. The invitation 

 was too obvious to be neglecled. I took up 

 her little burden, and carried it for her to her 

 leafy retreat. After that she was allowed to 

 have her way, and we rigged up an old um- 

 brella to protect her and her young barbarians 



