224 
Pussy Meow 
“ Six,” said Billee, “ beside our dear mother, 
who always gave us the best she had of every- 
thing.” 
On the very same evening that mistress brought 
the little kittens home, curiously enough we had 
another new arrival, a Maltese cat with white mark- 
ings. She came up the sidewalk in front of our 
house crying as if in great distress. Mistress 
invited her into the house to have some supper, but 
it was evident that hunger was not the cause of her 
crying, for she did not touch a morsel of food. 
When mistress examined her more closely, she 
found to her horror that the poor thing’s breasts 
were greatly swollen, and that evidently, some one 
had robbed her of her kittens. Then mistress 
picked up the two little new kittens, and laid them 
on the pad by the old cat ; and instantly the little 
things began to nurse her, and were soon purring a 
happy song of thankfulness. The “ stepmother,” 
as mistress called the strange cat, washed each kit- 
ten in true mother fashion, and for several days en- 
joyed real mother bliss. 
All this was very nice for the “ stepmother,” but 
it proved disastrous to the kittens, for both took 
sick and died. After that mistress rubbed the old 
