My Great Sorrow 1 1 1 
How dearly I paid for my disobedience, I will tell 
you. 
After staying up in the poplar tree awhile, I con- 
cluded to go in, but the doors were all shut, and the 
house was dark. I called at the kitchen door, but 
nobody heard me, so I crawled into a soap box in 
which I found an old blanket, put there for me, no 
doubt, by my thoughtful mistress. But for some 
reason or other I could not get that dreadful dis- 
secting story off my mind, and while I sat in my 
box thinking about it, I saw an old black cat, — not 
Jack — come along on the fence ledge and descend 
into my yard. I jumped up immediately and asked 
him what business he had prowling around in my 
yard at that time of night. 
“ I am looking for you,” said he, “ and I want you 
to go with me to visit a friend down by the railroad.” 
On the whole the cat had quite a distinguished 
appearance, and I must say I felt somewhat flattered 
by h is attention. Besides that, he was so polite and 
kind, and I so lonely. Well, to make a long story 
short, I accepted his invitation. 
My companion said we must hurry, as it was a 
long distance, so we started on our journey at once. 
We walked to the end of Poplar Avenue, farther 
