CALICO AND THE KITTENS 141 



was half inclined to leave them and was turning 

 to go back to the basket, when one of the squirrels 

 whimpered a genuine, universal baby whimper. 

 That settled it. She was a mother, and whatever 

 else these things in the hat might be, they were 

 babies. That was enough, especially as she 

 needed just this much baby here in the hat to make 

 good what was lacking in the basket. 



With a soft, caressing purr she stepped gently 

 into the hat, took one of the squirrels by the neck, 

 brought it to the edge of the table, and laid it 

 down for a firmer hold ; then sprang lightly to the 

 floor. Over to the basket she walked and dropped 

 it tenderly among her other babies. Then, hav- 

 ing brought the remaining one and deposited that 

 with the same mother-care, she got into the bas- 

 ket herself and curled down contentedly her 

 heart all whole. 



And this is how strange a thing mother-love is ! 

 The performance was scarcely believable. Could 

 she be so love-blind as not to see what they were 

 and that she could eat them! But when she be- 

 gan to lick the little interlopers with her tongue, 

 and cuddle them down to their dinner, as if they 

 were her own genuine kittens, there could be no 

 more fear of her eating them. 



