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enemy to all strange dogs. She would not allow 

 one in the yard if she were there. She would fly 

 at him and drive him out, whatever his size. If 

 she happened to be looking out of the window and 

 saw a strange dog outside, she would arch her back 

 and spit, and it almost seemed as though she would 

 jump through the glass to get at him. 



She once jumped through a window pane to get 

 at a bird that had lighted on the sill outside.but she 

 was so cut by the glass that it taught her a lesson. 



Blackie never liked to be stroked or petted as 

 most cats do. Sometimes when she was very 

 sleepy she would allow herself to be smoothed for 

 a few moments, and then suddenly she would give 

 a growl, her yellow eyes would open wide and she 

 would leap to her feet and spring away out of reach. 



When she had kittens she was gentler. She was 

 always a very good mother and very proud of her 

 young ones. 



One time she had four kittens, all just alike and 

 all black like herself, with scarcely a white hair on 

 them. She had made a nest in the garret back of 

 an old trunk, and there she hid them. They were 

 several days old before any one found them, so 

 cleverly had Blackie tucked them away. 



