first one, then another, would slip something to 

 her under the table, trying at the same time to 

 appear innocent. The girls have always main- 

 tained that their mother, who made the rule, was 

 the first one to break it. No one could resist Bob's 

 pretty, dainty, coaxing ways. 



" She is particularly fond of pie-crust, and 

 many a time I have found the edge picked off 

 the pie I had intended for dinner. Bob never 

 fails to find a pie, if one is left uncovered. I think 

 it is the shortening in the pie-crust that gives it 

 the delicious flavor, for lard she prefers above all 

 of her many foods. She cares least of all for grain. 

 My daughters say that Bob's fondness for graham 

 gems accounts for the frequency of their recent 

 appearances on our table. 



" After trying many places, Bob at last found 

 a roosting-place that suited her. This was in a 

 leather collar-box on the bureau, where she could 

 nestle up close to her own image in the mirror. 

 Since discovering this place she has never failed 

 to occupy it at night. She is intelligent, and in 

 so many ways pleasing that we are greatly at- 

 tached to her." 



163 



