A SHREWD CAT. 
47 
“But about the cat,” said Sidney, im¬ 
patiently. 
“Well,” continued Dick, “after our 
scarecrow failed, there was nothing for us 
but to shoot as many as we could, in hopes 
of scaring them away and saving at least 
some of the fruit; and Harry and I de¬ 
stroyed—I cannot tell how many. After a 
while, Supa, who was at first very much 
afraid of the gun, began to find out what 
we were about, and made up her mind to 
have a share of the sport herself. She used 
to follow us round the garden, always keep¬ 
ing close behind. When we were about to 
shoot a bird, she would crouch close to the 
ground ready for a spring; and she often 
caught the bird before it fell. After she 
had eaten as many as she wanted, she would 
carry them away and lay them up in heaps, 
apparently just for the fun of the thing.” 
Sidney drew a long breath. 
“ If any one but you had told that story, 
Dick, I should say it was a large one. How 
did the cat know what you were about ?” 
“ I suppose she used her eyes and her un¬ 
derstanding,” replied Richard. “She saw 
that whenever the gun went off a bird fell; 
