16 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
birds were more plentiful then than the 
English sparrows are now. 
During the endeavors to save the des¬ 
olate, wee being, Niobe had closely 
watched every movement, evidently hop¬ 
ing for another delicious feast, and at 
last mother feeling there was not the 
slightest spark of life in the poor body, 
and it was beyond all suffering, reluct¬ 
antly gave it to the cat who carried it 
awav. Not long after she was disturbed 
by Niobe, who came rubbing against her, 
mewing softly, and going back and forth 
to the door, until mother feeling some¬ 
thing must be wrong, followed her to the 
woodshed, which was the home of 
Niobe’s one kitten; but judge of her sur¬ 
prise to find everything right, and to see 
the (supposed) dead squirrel lying snugly 
against the kitten, both warm, happy, 
and comfortable, while the rescuer purred 
in manifest joy over them. 
How she had been able to restore him to 
life was a mystery, but from that time he 
received the same love and attention from 
his foster-mother as did her own offspring, 
and grew and flourished as it did. When 
the two became old enough to play to¬ 
gether, it was a pretty sight, though they 
(the squirrel especially) led the cat a 
strenuous existence, for her adopted 
charge caused her much worry for his 
love of galloping up the trees, and whisk, 
ing through the branches. At first the 
anxious mother tried to follow until find¬ 
ing her efforts unsuccessful, she became 
reconciled to his wanderings, and con¬ 
tented herself by giving him a cordial 
welcome on his return; but if the kitten 
tried, as all kittens do, to run up a tree, 
and follow its playmate she would spring 
quickly and pull or push it down, evi¬ 
dently determined to have only one such 
lively climber in the family. 
The one other thing Niobe could not 
understand and would not allow if possi¬ 
ble, was Julius'Caesar’s love for nuts,and 
his habit of sitting up with his bushy tail 
making an interrogation point behind 
his back. He would hold one in his 
forepaws, break off the shell with his 
sharp teeth, peel away the husk and eat 
the kernel. This for some reason would 
exasperate her to such an extent, as to 
make her spit at and cuff him, until in 
self defense, the puzzled squirrel after 
rapid chattering, and scolding, generally 
dropped the nut and scampered away. 
This vigorous trio continued their 
happy life until cold weather, when Jul¬ 
ius Caesar disappeared, and for days 
Niobe and her kitten were inconsolable, 
while we all missed seeing the active, 
little fellow frolicking around.” 
“Didn’t you ever see him again?” asked 
both Ruth and Jennie eagerly. 
“We never knew certainly” answered 
the grandmother, “but the next spring 
among the squirrels, we saw a large hand¬ 
some one, who showed no fear of us, or of 
the cats, but was very friendly, and social, 
and whose playful tricks were so much 
like those of Niobe’s pet, we children de¬ 
cided it was without a doubt he. We 
also decided Julius Caesar’s mission 
in life, must have been to save his 
family from the cat’s cruel teeth, for after 
Niobe took the apparently, lifeless, little 
one, and cared for, and loved him as she 
did her own dear kitten, she entirely 
stopped (as far as we could discover) her 
murderous assaults on the squirrels, and 
as all delighted seeing the graceful creat¬ 
ures frisking about, Niobe’s kind act in 
saving one squirrel’s life, made happiness 
for many.” 
“Yes indeed,” said Ruth, “we just love 
to watch them playing in the park, don't 
we Jennie?” then as it was time for 
grandmother’s afternoon rest, the two 
girls with “many thanks dear grandmoth¬ 
er,’’skipped back to their beloved dolls. 
Helen P. Haskell. 
