THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



chance to express his helping instinct. His home 

 may be very delightful, but if he has never been 

 able to show what is in him, he will not be com- 

 pletely happy. I do not wonder that occasionally 

 such dogs slip into bad company and bad ways. 



If we will take the trouble to get rid of bad breeds 

 of cats, and cultivate only the best results of ani- 

 mal evolution, I think we shall find that we have 

 something better than a mere mouser. A friend 

 of mine tells me of his cat, that enjoys nothing 

 better than fishing, often landing a perch or pick- 

 erel or bass weighing three or four pounds. This 

 cat has learned to associate his fishing propensi- 

 ties with the family larder, for he never attempts to 

 eat the fish that he catches, but carries it home and 

 lays it at his mistress's feet. He generally hunts 

 alone, but sometimes starts out with the family dog, 

 and they will occasionally return with about an 

 equal share of game — not unfrequently par- 

 tridges. I had myself a beautiful maltese, who 

 would ride on my shoulder to a pond where frogs 

 abounded, and would leap from my shoulder and 

 catch a victim much more quickly than I could get 

 it in any other way. A reliable story reaches me 

 of a cat at Stockton, California, whose mistress has 



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