THIEVES OF THE NIGHT 



but big bits had to be carried as a dog carries 

 a bone. He would hurry backwards and 

 forwards until he had carried all the food off, 

 after which he would amuse himself by making 

 a nest behind the bookcase. As the house- 

 maid brushed his nest away every morning 

 when doing the room, a fresh nest was begun 

 each evening, but he never seemed to get tired 

 of the entertainment. He would take away 

 any loose things that he could find, especially 

 papers, and the newspapers when dropped on 

 the floor would often begin to rustle and move 

 in a mysterious way. What happened was that 

 Whiskers got underneath the sheets, took hold 

 of one corner, and towed the whole off to 

 his favourite hiding-place, there, unless it was 

 at once pulled out, to tear it to bits. 



The nest in Whiskers' sleeping box was a 

 jumble of paper, straw, feathers, and odds and 

 ends of rags. Sometimes it had to be burnt, 

 but he never seemed happy with a nice clean 

 bed of hay or straw, and immediately set to 

 work to collect more odds and ends. 



Samuel Whiskers was very fond of being 

 petted, and would lie on my lap, or sit on 

 my shoulder, as long as I would go on 

 stroking and petting him, but the minute one 



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