YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



dressing-room, and I ventured in, and found 

 a lovely black fur muff, that she used some- 

 times to keep her hands warm. I carried it 

 gleefully into my basket, and lay down, with 

 my little paws inside it, same as I had seen 

 mamma hold it. But the long fur tickled my 

 nose, so I nipped at it and pulled out tuft 

 after tuft till I got tired. Then I went again 

 to the dressing-room, and discovered a green 

 velvet hat, adorned with a beautiful green- 

 and-gold breast, that some happy bird had 

 worn sometime over his singing heart, and a 

 dainty little bonnet, trimmed with costly 

 aigrettes. I had heard mamma say that 

 very morning, while she was dressing: 



'I bought this lovely breast, and these 

 aigrettes, before I knew or even dreamed 

 how cruelly they w^ere torn from the live 

 mother-bird by their pitiless hunters, in 

 nesting time, and the little ones left to starve 

 and die, and I shall never wear them again, 

 nor buy any more. I am only one among 

 thousands, but if every woman would say 

 the same, this terrible traffic in gentle lives 

 would come to an end!' 



So I tossed the green velvet hat high in 

 air; I plucked out mouthful after mouthful 



