OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



treacherous and distrustful, as the author says, that 

 you have just been reading. And then Minette 

 never steals, and always has velvet paws for me. 

 She has n r t once given me a scratch in all the time 

 we have played together." 



"Emile forgets one very good quality," put in 

 Jules. "Minette is a splendid hunter. Let her 

 hear the slightest rustle anywhere, and there she 

 will sit for hours and hours on the watch, motion- 

 less, patient, all eyes and ears. A mouse heard is 

 for her a mouse caught. But it isn't hunger that 

 gives her that love of hunting, for she kills her 

 mouse and then leaves it lying there, with no desire 

 to eat it." 



"Minette has other talents too," Emile hastened 

 to add. "When there is going to be a change in the 

 weather, she licks her paws and washes her ears 

 and nose over and over. Then you say, that is a 

 sign of snow, or a sign of storm. And the cat's pre- 

 diction is hardly ever wrong. When the north wind 

 blows cold and dry, I like to rub my hand over her 

 fur and make the bright sparks fly. In the evening I 

 like to hear her rerr-rerr, which makes me sleepy." 



"Why," asked Uncle Paul in conclusion, "do not 

 Minette 's good qualities agree with what Buff on 

 says! Because you love the cat and the cat loves 

 you in return. Animals, my dear children, are what 

 people make them. Good master, good servant." 



