22 
SHOWING CLAWS. 
innocently. “ What are you doing to her 
claws, Dick ?” 
“ I am trying to see how she curls them 
up so close,” replied Richard. “ See; now 
you would not know she had any claws, her 
paws are so soft and smooth; and yet they 
are as sharp as needles,” he continued, 
hastily withdrawing his hand,—for pussy, 
annoyed with the examination of her talons, 
had shown symptoms of displaying them in 
her own way. 
“ That’s the trouble of playing with cats,” 
said Sidney: “ they are always ♦showing 
their claws.” 
“ That’s the trouble of playing with some 
other folks,” retorted Annie, who always re¬ 
sented as personal any affront offered to her 
pets. 
“ Take a lesson from it, then, Annie, and 
don’t be so fond of showing your own 
claws,” said Miss Winston. 
“ Aunt,” said Richard, rather hastily, as 
if to turn the conversation, “ are not lions 
and cats something the same kind of ani¬ 
mals ?” 
“ Oh, Dick! Cats and lions! A lion is forty 
times as large as a cat.” 
