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V

NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES

3 3333 06037 7328

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY5TH AVENUE AND 42ND STREETCENTRAL CIRCULATION BRANCHCHILDREN'S ROOM

Entrance on 42nd Street

This book is the property of the City of New York,Take good care of it.Keep your library card in this pocket.

Rules for Borrowing BooksTwo books (one of fiction) and a magazine may beborrowed at one time. Books may be kept two weeksand may be renewed for an additional two weeks.For books kept over time there is a fine of one cent

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KEEP THIS BOOK CLEANDO NOT TURN DOWN THE LEAVESBorrowers finding this book pencil-marked,

written upon, mutilated or unwarrantably defaced,are expected to report it to the librarian.

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CJTappan

THE PRINCE FROM NOWHERE.STORIES OF AMERICA FOR VERY YOUNGREADERS.THE LITTLE LADY IN GREEN, AND OTHERTALES.

AMERICAN HISTORY STORIES FOR VERYYOUNG READERS.ELLA: A LITTLE SCHOOL GIRL OF THE

'6os.HEROES OF PROGRESS.HERO STORIES OF FRANCE.THE FARMER AND HIS FRIENDS.THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE FLAG.THE LITTLE BOOK OF THE WAR.THE HOUSE WITH THE SILVER DOOR.WHEN KNIGHTS WERE BOLD.DIXIE KITTEN.AN OLD, OLD STORY-BOOK.THE CHAUCER STORY BOOK.LETTERS FROM COLONIAL CHILDREN.AMERICAN HERO STORIES.THE STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE.THE STORY OF THE GREEK PEOPLETHE GOLDEN GOOSE AND OTHER FAIRYTALES.

THE CHRIST STORY.OLD BALLADS IN PROSE.All of the above are illustrated.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANYBOSTON AND NEW YORK

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DIXIE KITTENBY

EVA MARCH TAPPANILLUSTRATED

BOSTON AND NEW YORKHOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

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COPYRIGHT, IQIOBY EVA MARCH TAPPANALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE

THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER IQIO

PIc

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DIXIE KITTEN

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I. THE HOME NEST III. LEAVING HOME 7

III. DIXIE FINDS A FRIEND i3IV. DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE 22V. DIXIE'S TROUBLES 33VI. THE LITTLE MOTHERGAT

VII. DIXIE IS DESERTED 7VIII. A HAPPY LITTLE CAT 54IX. THE NEW HOUSE 62X. DIXIE IN HER HOME 68XI. DIXIE IN HER HOME, CONTINUED 78

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9 DIXIE KITTENbut those two were snowy white. Whenshe lifted her pretty chin, you could seeunder it a soft yellow " vest front," and atthe top of the vest front a bit of the whit-est, glossiest fur that was ever seen. It wasso very pure and dainty that when the sun-light fell upon it, you would almost fancythat it was a bit of filmy white lace.The first thing that Dixie could remem-ber was of being cuddled up to some onewho was soft and comfortable and gaveher sweet warm milk to drink. Somehow,she knew that this was her mother, andthat her mother would feed her when shewas hungry and keep her warm and takecare of her and not let anything hurt her.

Their home was a nest of soft hay, sodeep in the pile that when Dixie was atthe farther end, she could not see out atall. After a while, however, she crept outto the light now and then, and here wereso many interesting things that her eyes

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THE HOME NEST 3

grew bigger and bigger the longer shelooked. There were piles ofhay and straw,there were bags of grain, there were rakesand spades and wheelbarrows, there wasa carriage, and there was a sleigh. Dixieclimbed up one of the shafts of the sleighand stretched out her paw to touch a bell.She only wanted to see what it was, but itmade such a loud jingle that she almostfell off the shaft. She ran away as fast asever she could and hid herself in the safeand comfortable hole in the hay.

There were strange noises, too, thatDixie kitten heard, even when she was farout of sight in her own little nest with hermother. There were voices of men andthe sound of their steps; there was thehappy " Bow-wow ! " of a dog; there wasthe neighing of horses and their crunch-ing of grain, and the sounds of harnessingand unharnessing. Twice every day the.great doors of the barn were thrown open

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4 DIXIE KITTENand the Master drove in. She could hearhim pat the horses and the dog and speakkindly to them ; then his steps passed outof the barn and up the walk and into thehouse.

Dixie's mother had made her under-stand that she must stay near the homenest ; but there was a flight of steps closeby, and Dixie did so long to go downthem ! She felt sure that they led to wherethose wonderful things that she heardmust be. Her mother went down thesteps sometimes, and one day when shewas gone away from home, Dixie kittenthought that she would go, too. She wentto the head of the stairs and stretched outher little right forepaw very carefully ; butit would not reach the first step. Shestretched out the left paw, but that wouldnot reach any farther. She drew back andsat looking down the staircase for a while.Then she tried again, and this time she

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THE HOME NEST 5reached so far that not only the two littleblack forepaws, and the black hind pawand the yellow hind paw, but also herwhole little black and yellow body tum-bled down one step, two steps and noone knows how much farther she wouldhave gone, had she not come, plump,right against her mother, who had seenwhat was going on and was hurrying upthe stairs as fast as she could run. Dixiewas a much surprised little kitten, forher mother lifted her by the back of theneck and carried her straight to the littlenest in the hay. Then Dixie was still moresurprised. She had always thought hermother's smooth soft paws were onlybeautiful playthings, but now one of themgave her a pretty hard cuff right on herears. Even if Master had been listening,he could not have heard Mothercat sayanything, but Dixie kitten understoodperfectly well that she would get into

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I EAVIMGT

THIS is the way it came about that Dixiekitten and her mother left the home nest.At night, when Master came home, hestepped down from the carriage muchmore slowly than usual, for he was hold-ing a big basket carefully in his hand. Hedid not go into the house at once, butclimbed up the stairs and stood at the topa moment looking around. He had setthe basket on the floor, and now he called,' ' Kitty, Kitty ! " Mothercat listened a mo-ment, then peered out of the nest, her eyesas big as saucers. Dixie kitten crept outbetween her mother's forepaws, for she,too, had heard a gentle "Mew! " comingfrom the basket, and even a kitten couldguess what was within it. She was so eager

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8 DIXIE KITTENthat she could hardly wait to see it opened;but Mothercat crouched low and lashedher tail angrily back and forth. Then Mas-ter took off the cover of the basket, andwhat should be in it but four little kittens I

Dixie kitten was delighted. She climbedover Mothercat and started to run out tosee them; but once more Mothercat boxedher ears with her big soft paw, and Dixiehad to go to the back of the nest in the hay.4 'Kitty, Kitty ! "called Master, " come andsee the new kittens"; but Mothercat didnot stir from her place, and she swishedher tail more angrily than ever. Mastergave the new kittens a dish of milk, andthen he went away.The kittens drank the milk, then theybegan to run about the room. Theyclimbed the heaps of hay and straw andthey smelled of the bags of grain. Theyran over the carriage and the sleigh andthe wheelbarrow. They touched the teeth

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LEAVING HOME 9of the rake curiously with their small pinknoses. Once they went near the littlenest where Mothercat crouched, watch-ing everything that they did. ' * Gr-r-r-r ! 'growled Mothercat ; and they ran awayfrom her corner as fast as ever they could.It began to be twilight. They were lonelyand somewhat frightened, and pretty soonthey curled up together in a soft little heapand went to sleep.

Dixie kitten went to sleep, too, butMothercat sat a long time thinking. Mas-ter meant those new kittens to stay there,that was plain. It was her house, theplace that she had picked out so carefullyas a home for her kitten, and he had putthose strangers into it! She had neverthought of Master's doing such a thingas that; but there they were, and whatshould she do? There was one thing sure,she would not live in the same house withthem, and her kitten should have nothing

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io DIXIE KITTENto do with them. She waited until it wasdark and everything was quiet down-stairs except the occasional moving of thehorses and once or twice a sleepy barkfrom the dog, Prince, who was dreamingthat he had caught a rabbit. She listenedawhile, but there was nothing more to beheard. Then she picked up Dixie kittenby the back of the neck and stole quietlydown the stairs. Master had cut a hole inthe barn door, so that no cat need ever beshut out, and she slid softly through this,and went under the barn. It was open onone side, but the air was warm, and sheknew where there was a heap of straw.She pushed it about a little with her paws,then she turned round and round to makea smooth nest, and at last she lay down, andDixie kitten lay down beside her. Dixiethought all this was very strange, but ofcourse whatever Mothercat did was right,so she snuggled down, and in three min-

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LEAVING HOME nutes she was sound asleep. Before long,Mothercat was asleep, too. The coarsestraw was not so comfortable as the hay,but, whether it was hard or soft, she wouldnot stay in the same place with thosestrange kittens, indeed she would not.When morning came, Mothercat wentinto the barn to get the breakfast thatwas always brought out for her, and therewere those kittens eating out of her dish!She stood still and looked at them. Dixiekitten had followed, and now one of thestrangers went toward her in a friendlyfashion. "Gr-r-r-! r growled Mothercat,and the kitten ran back to the dish. Mo-thercat did not touch the milk, and maybeshe would have had no breakfast at all,if Mistress had not come out to see thenew kittens. "Why, Mothercat," she said,* * are n't you going to be good to thoselittle stranger kittens ?" Mothercat did notanswer, but she did not go any nearer to

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la DIXIE KITTENthe dish. * ' She '11 soon get used to them,"said Master ; but Mistress slipped into thehouse and brought out another dishful ofmilk. Master laughed, but Mistress said," Never mind. I don't know that / wantto eat out of the same dish with every-body, either.' 1 Then Mothercat ate herbreakfast, but all the while she kept oneeye on the new kittens to make sure theydid not go near her child.

So it went on day after day and weekafter week. Dixie kitten was soon oldenough to drink from a dish. Mothercatallowed her to use the same dish as theothers, but never once would she let herstayand have a good play with them ; Dixiecould not see why. The new kittens stilllived in the barn, and Dixie and Mother-cat still lived under it.

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DIXIE grew until she was much larger thanwhen she first lived in the nest in the hay,and she learned a number of things fromMothercat. She learned that to keep herfur clean and dainty she must wash itseveral times a day, and that nothing elsemade it so soft and smooth and silky as towash it after she had just been drinkingsome good creamy milk. She learned thatmice were to be caught ; that beetles andother queer creatures of the sort that ranabout in the grass were to be played with,but not eaten ; that horses never ate kit-tens, though without meaning to do anyharm, they sometimes stepped upon them.Dogs, she learned, were quite differentfrom horses in their treatment of cats.One should always run away from dogs,

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i4 DIXIE KITTENnot on the ground, but up some tree-trunk,for dogs cannot climb trees; and Dixiethought it was great fun to scamper upa tree, curl up on a branch, and sit therecomfortably while a dog barked at thefoot and tried in vain to reach her. Princechased other cats, but if any dog troubledthe kittens in his barn, then in about threeseconds the strange dog was runningdown the street with Prince at his heels.Prince was a little puzzled about Mother-cat and Dixie. They came in to the barn toeat and Mistress fed them, but they livedunder the barn instead of in it. This wasstrange, Prince thought, and he hardlyknew whether he ought to take care ofthem or drive them away. He decided thathe ought not to do them any harm, butthat he might give them just a little chasenow and then. They understood this aswell as he, and after he had driven themup a tree, they would come down, go into

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DIXIE FINDS A FRIEND i5the barn, and eat their dinner beside himas peaceably as possible.Of course Dixie kitten had learned to

climb any tree in the neighborhood. Shehad learned also what some kittens neverdo learn, and that is, how to come downagain. The stranger kittens were alwaysscrambling up smooth, slender saplings,and then tumbling back to the groundor crying for some one to come and helpthem. One of them climbed a telephonepole, and there she sat on a crosspiece,not daring to come down. She cried sopiteously that at length Master sent to thefire engine company on the next street andpaid a man a dollar to bring a ladder andtake her down. And the next day he hadto send for the man once more, for thatfoolish kitten had climbed the pole again !

Dixie kitten had learned, then, howto behave toward mice and beetles andhorses and dogs ; but People were quite

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ID DIXIE KITTENanother matter. In the first place, they didnot live either in barns or under them,like kittens, but in houses. She had oftenwatched Master and Mistress go up thesteps and into their house ; and once,when she was quite small, she, too, hadslipped in when the door chanced to beopen. She had walked on a thick carpetthat was much more agreeable than thebare ground or even the barn floor. Shehad seen sofas and easy chairs, and shehad jumped up on a cushion that was farsofter than even the home nest in the hay.There was plenty of room and no otherkittens were to be seen. The People, how-ever, had not allowed her to stay there,but had driven her out at once, shewondered why. In other ways, too, thantheir manner of living, People were quitedifferent from dogs and horses and cats.Their fur was of different colors on differ-ent days, and one never knew how they

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DIXIE FINDS A FRIEND 17were going to behave. Sometimes theygave kittens good things to eat, and some-times they did not. Sometimes they spoketo them or patted them, and sometimesthey hurried by without seeming to seethem. They had long arms, and some-times they reached out and lifted a kittenfar up into the air. Then if she was fright-ened and tried to keep herself from fall-ing by sticking her claws into them, theywere not pleased, and often they droppedher upon the ground. To be sure, none ofthese things had ever happened to Dixie,for Mothercat had taught her to keepaway from People ; but she had seen themall occur more than once, and she hadmade up her mind never to have anythingto do with People.Two-footed folk often change their

minds, and sometimes four-footed folkdo the same ; and it was not long beforethe little black kitten began to look at this

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i8 DIXIE KITTENmatter somewhat differently. Justbeyondthe barn were some apple trees and syrin-gas and rosebushes and grapevines anda green lawn with bright blue forget-me-nots in the grass, the very place for kittensto run about and play. A fence shutoff the stranger kittens, but Dixie and hermother could slip out from under the barnand have many a fine run over the grassor up the trees when no one was looking.At the end of the lawn was a cottage.There were People in it, but that did nottrouble Dixie and Mothereat especially,for they never interfered. Sometimes Ladysat on the piazza with a pile of books,sometimes she picked a handful of flowersor broke off the dead twigs from somebush. When she saw Dixie and Mother-cat, she always spoke to them, and theystopped and looked at her ; but ifshe cametoward them, they ran away.

Dixie had now grown so large that Mo-

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DIXIE FINDS A FRIEND 19thereat no longer watched her so closely.Probably she thought that the kitten hadlearned how to take care of herself andkeep out of danger ; but she might havechanged her mind if she had guessed whatDixie was thinking of in her wideawakelittle brain. She would certainly havethought that Dixie was not doing creditto the careful teaching that she had had.Dixie was thinking hard about Lady, forthere was something about her that thekitten liked. She was People, of course,but Dixie had come to the conclusion thatPeople were not all alike. The kittenhad seen a good deal of her of late ata distance, for now that the weather waswarmer, Lady was out of doors much ofthe time. Dixie was out almost all day,and much of it was spent among Lady'strees and flowers. Lady frequently spoketo her, but Dixie made no reply. Still, herbright little eyes were watching.

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ao DIXIE KITTENAfter a while one might often have seena half-grown kitten with old-gold eyes

creeping quietly around the lawn, keep-ing close to the fence, but holding hereyes fixed upon Lady. One morning whenLady was tying up the morning-gloryvines, the small kitten screwed up all hercourage and started toward her. Dixie ranas fast as ever she could, for she wanted tocome, and yet she was afraid. She was alla-tremble, and her heart was beating fast;but she kept on bravely. Lady was notlooking down at the path, but up at thevines, and the first that she knew, a blackkitten was rubbing against her anklesand purring with all her little might. Ladystooped and patted the kitten's head andtalked to her awhile very gently ; thenshe started to go into the house. This wasnot such an easy thing to do, for the kit-ten was so happy that she kept runningback and forth before her feet and purring

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DIXIE FINDS A FRIEND 21like a tiny spinning-wheel. This was theway that a wild little kitten found a friendwho was to do more for her than she everdreamed.

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2(J)TTAGE

LADY was always kind to Dixie when theywere under the trees together, but she hada way of going into the house and closingthe door which the kitten thought wasrather unfriendly. Some weeks passed ;then, as Lady turned to close the door onemorning, she saw a round black face withtwo shining yellow eyes pushing in shyly."I don't know about this, kitty," saidLady; but Somebody Else said, "Oh, lether come injust a minute" ; and Lady heldthe door ajar. The kitten crept in, but verytimidly, for she had not forgotten thatwhen she had run into a house before, shehad been sent out at once. She did notventure very far, but she did put her littlefeet on a soft rug, and in a room beyond

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DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE a3she saw cushions and a sofa that shethought would be a most delightful placefor a kitten to lie down and have a nap.She took only one look, then she ran backto the door and slipped out, for she didnot know what might happen if she stayedlonger.

Every day the kitten became a little lesstimid, though she was still easily startledby anything that was new to her. All catslike to be rubbed gently under the chin ;but when Lady first rubbed her there,right over her dainty bit of white fur thatlooked so like lace, the kitten drew herhead away and looked back overher shoul-der at Lady's hand as if it was somethingshe had never seen before and she did notknow what strange things it might do. Itwas not long, however, before she learnedthat nothing Lady did would ever hurther. She had now grown brave enoughto follow Lady about under the trees and

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94 DIXIE KITTENamong the grapevines and roses and sy-ringas ; and when Lady stooped to picka spray of forget-me-nots, she was verylikely to feel a smooth black furry headpushed under her hand, for the wildlittle kitten who had made up her mindnever to go near People was fast learningthat to have a good friend among themwas the best thing in all a cat's littleworld.

Before long Lady said to the kitten," Little cat, you reallymust have a name.Some dear friends of mine once had apretty cat whose name was Dixie, and I amgoing to call you Dixie. Do you like it? 'The kitten made no answer, for a fly wascreeping slowly up the gate-post, and shewas getting ready to jump for it ; but itwas only a short time before she knewher name as well as anybody. The otherkittens would come if any one called" Kitty, Kitty," but this one paid no at-

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DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE 25tention to any calling unless she heardsome one say "Dixie."

So it was that Dixie found a friend anda name. Mothercat had watched this newfriendship, and she did not seem to disap-prove of it; but she never allowed Lady tocome near herself. People had never beenunkind to her, but still she was afraid ofthem. Lady always believed that if shehad lived longer, she would have becomefriendly; but about this time Mothercatgot a bone in her throat and could not getit out. Master and Mistress both tried theirbest to help her ; but she was so wild andfrightened that she would not let them domuch for her, and before long Mothercatwas dead.

All this time Mothercat and Dixie hadbeen going to the barn for their food, andas the weather grew colder, they werefinally obliged to go there to sleep. Thestranger cats had taken the best places, of

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26 DIXIE KITTENcourse, but theymadewarm nests forthem-selves and were not uncomfortable. AfterMothercat died, Dixie hated to go to thebarn. The stranger cats looked upon itas their home, and treated Dixie as if shewere the stranger and had no right tocome there. Sometimes they growled ather, and although she was a stout-heartedlittle fighter and was not one bit afraid ofthem, it was not at all pleasant to have toeat and sleep with cats who did not wanther. She began to do some more think-ing in her wise little head. She did not likethe barn, and she did like Lady's cottage.There were no other kittens in the cottage,and there was plenty of room; but wouldLady let her come ? She had followedLady about the lawn, they had sat on thepiazza together, and once or twice shehad jumped into Lady's lap. Lady hadalways seemed glad to see her, but hadnever invited her into the house. Never^

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DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE 27theless, Dixie meant to see what could bedone.The result of all this thinking was that

one day, when there was a remarkablygood smell coming from Lady's kitchen,a little black nose was stretched up to thepartly open door and a little red mouthwas opened wide. Dixie seldom mewed,but when other cats would have mewed,she only opened her mouth appealingly." Well, is n't that cunning 1 " cried Some-body Else. " Dixie has come to dinner.""Don't feed her," 1 said Lady; "she be-longs to Master and Mistress. She mustunderstand that she can come to visit, butthat the barn is her home." Lady wascalled awayjust then. If she had not been,I am afraid that before long she wouldhave done just what Somebody Else did,that is, cut off a nice bit of lamb and put itinto the tiny red mouth.

So it went on day after day. At first

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DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE 29ate her dinner, no other cat was there togrowl at her, for was she not the one andonly kitten of the house ?Of course the stranger cats had noticed

what was going on, and sometimes theytried to come in and get a taste of the goodthings that smelled so tempting ; but thisDixie would never permit. She did notgrowl or spit, but if any other kitten daredto take bite or sup from her dish, then aresolute black paw shot out quick as anarrow and struck the intruder with a hardlittle cuff that sent her scampering out ofthe door. Once or twice some one of thestranger cats slipped in first and emptiedthe saucer. Then Dixie was so angry thatshe dashed out of doors like a little blackwhirlwind, ran up the path toward the gate,and sat down with her back to the house.She swished her tail angrily and occa-sionally looked back over her shoulderreproachfully at Lady and Somebody Else,

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3o DIXIE KITTENwho had permitted such cruel things tohappen.Room after room, Dixie went over thehouse. She examined every foot of thecellar, for she hoped to find a mouse ortwo there. Early one morning she ven-tured upstairs for the first time. It wasall new and strange and quiet, and Ladywas nowhere to be seen. Dixie gave a fainttimid mew, which meant, ' ' I am lonesomeand frightened. Lady, where are you?'Lady called, "Come, Dixie,' 11 and Dixiesprang upon the great bed, the happiestlittle cat in the city. When Mistress camein, she often saw her kitten lying on thesofa or in Lady's lap, or running about fromone room to another, and she said, " Youknow she is only a barn cat, and she hasnever been taught how to behave. Shemay break things or get into the food.' :But Dixie had pretty clear notions in hersmall head of how kittens should act, and

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DIXIE AND THE COTTAGE 3ishe was a charming little visitor . Of courseshe made a few mistakes. One day Some-body Else found her on a shelf in thepantry having a fine time with a dish ofcorn. Dixie glanced at her with a lookthat seemed to say, "Of course this isall right, isn't it?" and went on eating.Somebody Else set her down on the floor,saying, " No, Dixie, you must not touchthat " ; and Dixie understood that, no mat-ter how tempting food might look, shemust not touch it unless it was given toher. She learned her lesson so well thatnever again did she meddle with anythingeatable, not even when she was shut intothe storeroom by mistake one day and leftthere for half an hour. Here were corn andfish and milk, all on low shelves in plainview, and it was dinner-time ; but not onemouthful did she take. When People satdown to the table, Dixie curled herself upon a cushion as if this business of eating

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' 3s DIXIE KITTENwas a matter with which she had nothingto do. Just once she broke through herrule of good behavior. There were guestsat the table. They were busy talking, andit must have seemed a long, long time fora hungry kitten to wait for her supper.One of the guests had just said, "Howwell your cat behaves at meal-times," andLady was replying, "Yes, she never paysthe least attention to us when we are eat-ing," when, behold, an impatient little catmade one bound to the sideboard and pre-pared for another to the table. This, how-ever, was the only time that she ever didsuch a thing ; and there are not manyPeople who have not made at least onemistake.

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DIXIE'S

DIXIE was very happy, but even the hap-piest little cat has her troubles, and Dixiehad one great grief and disappointment.Every evening, just as she was havingthe most delightful nap that could be im-agined, Lady began to straighten out thebooks and papers, push the chairs back,and fasten the windows. Dixie watchedall this with her bright, round eyes, forshe knew that the next thing would be," Come, Dixie, time to go to bed"; andthen she would be put out of the door andhave to go back to the barn to sleep. Itseemed very hard that while the soft cush-ion was to be there alone all night long,she could not be permitted to use it ; butLady always said, " No, Dixie, you mustrun home now " ; and one night when it

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34 DIXIE KITTENwas snowing fast, Lady put on some rub-ber boots and carried her over to the holein the barn door rather than let her lie onthat warm cushion all night.

This, then, was Dixie's one trouble, fora cat's home is where her bed is, andDixie did so want to make her home withLady and not in that barn. The troublebecame worse and worse, for Dixie wasgoing to have some kittens of her own,and where should she make a cosy nestfor them ? She could not bear to have themin the barn, for she did not feel that shewas a barn cat any longer, she was a housecat, even if she did have to go to the barnto sleep. In every pretty coaxing way thatshe knew she begged Lady to let her stay inthe house. She picked out one corner afteranother that she thought would be justthe place for baby kittens. One was on thepadded cover of a shirt-waist box in Lady'sroom. Another was in the deep drawer of

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DIXIE'S TROUBLES 35an old-fashioned bureau that chancedtobeleft open a fewminutes . Her favorite place,however, was in a big, round basket. Shelearned to push the cover offwith herpaw,and she would cuddle herself down in alittle ring and look up at Lady pleadingly."No, Dixie,

" was always the answer to herbegging, "you must not stay there." Shelay on the sofa much of the time. If Ladywas near her, all was well ; but when Ladywent anywhere else, Dixie followed. WhenLady sat down, Dixie seated herself di-rectly in front of her, and made plaintivelittle moans and gazed straight up into hereyes so beseechingly that more than onceLady slipped out of sight and went awayfrom the house rather than to have to sayno again and again.' ' She must think it is pretty hard," saidSomebody Else, "to be petted as long aseverything goes smoothly, and then turnedout of doors as soon as she is in trouble."

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36 DIXIE KITTEN"But," replied Lady, "you must re-member that she is not our cat. She is a

dear little visitor, but she belongs to Mas-ter and Mistress, and we must not let hermake this her home."

Dixie seemed to understand that theywere talking about her, and she pleadedmore earnestly than ever. When Lady satdown upon the sofa, Dixie would snug-gle up beside her as close as possible, shewould touch Lady's fingers with the tip ofher tiny red tongue, she would purr andlook up into Lady's face more and morecoaxingly every day. Still Lady said, ' ' No,Dixie, the barn is your home, and you mustmake a nest there for your kittens." Sheeven carried Dixie over to the barn two orthree times, but the poor little cat alwayshurried back again.

At length there came a day when Dixiewas plainly suffering. * ' She must go to thebarn," declared Lady. "Perhaps if I pull

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DIXIE'S TROUBLES 37down the shade of the piazza window, shewill think we are away and will go back."She pulled the shade down, but Dixie didnot go ; she only crouched down in thecorner of the piazza nearest the window,and sat there looking sick and unhappy.Lady was almost as unhappy. She wan-dered from one room to another, restless

and miserable. Every few minutes shecame back to the sitting-room, pulled thecurtain aside softly, and peeped out ; andevery time she saw the poor little suffer-ing cat curled up in the corner. At last shesaid, * * I '11 carry her over once more, andperhaps when she is once there she willbe willing to stay."

Lady started to carry her over; butclose to the door lay a big yellow cat. Hecrouched low, almost as if he was aboutto spring, and little Dixie trembled andclung fast to Lady. Then Lady carried herstraight home and into the house. "I

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38 DIXIE KITTENsimply won't let any animal be so misera-ble and frightened," she declared. " Mas-ter is at his office and Mistress has a housefull of company, so there 's no one to ask ;but that poor little kitten shan't suffer so,no matter whether she is mine or theirs.I 'm going to made you a bed, Dixie,' 1she continued, "and a comfortable placefor the kittens."

Dixie certainly understood some of thisat least, forwhen Lady hurrieddown cellarto look for a box and brought excelsiorand a piece of blanket from the attic to lineit with, Dixie followed, no longer moan-ing, but watching closely every motion.' ' We '11 put it into this quiet room off thekitchen,' 1 Lady explained to Dixie ; andshe lifted the little cat and laid her into thesoft, warm nest. Cats are not often will-ing to let People choose nests for them,but Dixie was happy and grateful, and shelay down at once. Lady made it all still

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DIXIE'S TROUBLES 89and dark around her and went away fora while. When she came back, there layDixie in the nest, and beside her were fourof the dearest little kittens. One was yel-low, and one was black, and the other twowere black and white. They were namedthen and there. The yellow one was But-tercup, the black one Topsy , and the othertwo were the Heavenly Twins. Ladybrought Dixie some warm milk, and thenleft her to rest with her four little furrykitty babies.

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LITTJLEMOTHERCAT

DIXIE made the dearest little mothercatthat was ever seen, and she was as happyas the days were long. At first she thoughttoo much was going on in the small roomoff the kitchen, and twice she carried herbabies off to Lady's study and picked outa snug, shady corner for them behind thedoor. Lady carried them back to the littleroom, and Dixie understood that theymust stay there, and she did not take themto the study again. She took the best pos-sible care of her kittens, and taught themall that Mothercat had taught her. Shewashed them ever so many times a day ;though as they grew older, they wereso full of fun that if she did not keep fasthold of them with her forepaws, theywould insist upon playing with her tail

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THE LITTLE MOTHERCAT ior jumping up to try to catch hold of herwhiskers.As soon as it became warm enough, a

big box full of straw was put out of doorsfor the kittens. Dixie kept close watch ofthem, and never let them go out of hersight unless Lady or Somebody Else wasnear. Then she seemed to think that shehad a good nurse-maid, and at such timesshe often ventured to slip away for a bitof freedom and a short run by herself.These many kittens needed more milkthan the milkman could spare, so it hadto be brought from the grocer's. Some-times it was rather late, and then theywould all line up on the doorstep, stretchtheir little red mouths wide open, and callfor their breakfast in a language that noone could fail to understand. All day longthey played in the sunshine ; or if it rained,they paddled their furry paws in the tinystreams of water like so many small chil-

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4a DIXIE KITTENdren, for they were no more afraid of waterthan if they had been ducks. They hadbreakfast and dinner out of doors, butwhen it was supper-time, they were all in-vited into the house to drink theirmilk andhave a good romp . They climbed over thechairs and the sofa, and frisked around thelegs of the tables. They ran after balls andjumped after strings. They tore up news-papers, and knocked down the shovel andtongs, and sometimes almost burned theirtiny noses trying to find out whetherthe fire in the fireplace was good to playwith or not. Topsy was more slender andlithe than the others, and it was great funfor her to squeeze herself under a certainwillow footstool. Then her smooth littleblack paws would dart out and the yellowpaws and black and white paws woulddart in, and the four kittens would carryon a merry little mock battle together.Sometimes one was tired of play before

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THE LITTLE MOTHERGAT 43the others and slipped away to a cornerof the sofa to take a nap. Then the otherswere as full of mischief as a nutshell ofmeat. One would take her seat on the armof the sofa and stretch down her paw togive the sleeper a poke. Another wouldtickle her feet with a wicked little blacknose; and sometimes the whole threewould pounce upon her and roll over andover her until she gave up all hope of anap and jumped up to have a paw-to-pawscramble with them. When the fun wasover, they were ready to go out of doors tosleep in their box of straw. If it was dark,they slept all night ; but if the moon wasbright and Lady chanced to look out of herwindow, she was almost sure to see fourlittle kittens frisking about and havingthe best time that any one ever dreamedof. Dixie rarely played with them. In-deed, even as a kitten she had hardly ever"played, andwhen Ladyhad shaken a string

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44 DIXIE KITTENor rolled a ball temptingly before her, shehad only blinked at it gravely and lookedrather surprised that she should be ex-pected to do such undignified acts asjumping at strings or running after balls.

There were other kittens just across thefence, but they belonged to the strangercats, and Dixie would not allow them onthe lawn. One day a tiny gray kitten ven-tured to slip through the palings to playwith Buttercup and Topsy and the Heav-enly Twins, and they had a fine time to-gether for a few minutes while Dixie waslying in the sunshine around the cornerof the house . Pretty soon she awoke , how-ever, and in two minutes the merry playhad come to an end. Dixie went straightup to the stranger kitten and apparentlytold it to go home as fast as it could go.The stranger kitten stood its groundbravely. It sat up as tall as it could andlooked Dixie squarely in the eyes. Dixie

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THE LITTLE MOTHERCAT 45lifted up her paw and gave it such ahearty cuff that the little gray kitten reallyscreamed with fright and pain. Thensomething happened that puzzled Dixie'sbrain severely, for Lady came hurryingacross the lawn and caught up the terri-fied little gray kitten. She soothed it tillit fell asleep, and she sat quietly with itin her lap till it woke up and was ready todrink some warm milk. Then she put itdown gently on the other side of the fence.This was something that Dixie could notunderstand. Why Lady, her Lady, shouldbe so good to a stranger kitten was cer-tainly a mystery. She had watched it allin amazement and anger, and now shesat down on the grass to think it out. Ofcourse she swished her tail, for she wasmore than a little jealous and angry. Herewas a fine plaything, the kittens thought,and in spite of her little warning growls,they had a great game with it, till finally

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46 DIXIE KITTENtheir mother turned upon them and cuffedthe one that chanced to be nearest. Sothey were all rather unhappy together,and just because of a friendly visit fromone little gray kitten.

If Dixie had only known what real sor-row was coming to her, she would havelooked upon this trifling annoyance of thevisit from the stranger kitten as a verysmall matter. She had thought it was ex-ceedingly hard when she had been sentto the barn every night instead of beingallowed to sleep on the soft cushion in thewarm, cosy sitting-room ; and she hadthought that no little cat was ever in worsestraits than she when she was afraid thatLady would not let her make a nest forher kittens in the house ; but a far worsetrouble was on its way now, and poorDixie's little heart would have almostbroken if she had known what it was.

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OF course Dixie had not been with Peo-ple so long without learning the meaningof many of the words that they used. Sheknew " come" and " go," and " dinner'and "down," and a number of others;but she did not know "buy" and * ' house"and "move." She felt vaguely uneasy,however, for things began to happenthat made her restless and nervous. Ladynever sat on the piazza now ; she wasalways going about the house and hurry-ing up and down stairs. Dixie had alwaysfled to the study

for quiet whenever toomuch was going on elsewhere ; but noweven the study was no refuge, for bookswere being taken down from the shelvesand laid into wooden boxes. Quantities of

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48 DIXIE KITTENpapers were carefully packed away andgreat basketfuls were carried down cellarand burned in the furnace. The parlorcarpet was taken up, and the room wasfilled with boxes of books and furnitureclosely wrapped up in white cloth. Pic-tures were taken down and set upon thefloor against the wall. Much sweepingand cleaning were going on. The worst ofit all, however, was when a strange mancame and began to pack the china into bar-rels, and then left the barrels standingin the sitting-room, her sitting-room,where the sofa with the cushions was, andwhere the kittens always had their even-ing frolic.

In all this confusion the kittens were notat all troubled. They thought it was greatfun to have the sitting-room full ofbarrels,and they had the best time of all their livesin jumping from one barrel to anotherand pulling out bits of the excelsior pack-

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DIXIE IS DESERTED 4ging. The little mother, however, was anx-ious and wrorried. All cats dislike changeand commotion, and this grew worse andworse. She hoped it would soon be over,but it was worse than house-cleaning, andshe had thought that was as much as anycat could endure.At last there came a dreadful day when

horses stopped at the gate and strangemenwent through the house and carried outboxes and barrels and furniture to load intogreat moving-wagons. Lady was nowhereto be seen, and Dixie fled. When it wasdinner-time, she came to the piazza win-dow, but Lady was not there. SomebodyElse was not there, and Dixie was an un-happy little cat. After a while, SomebodyElse set out a big saucer of fish for her anda big dish of milk for the kittens ; but stillLady could not be found. The men haddriven off with a load of goods, and Dixieventured to creep up to Lady's room.

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5o DIXIE KITTENSomething of hers might be on the bed,she thought ; she would lie down upon it,and maybe Lady would come soon. Shewent softly up the stairs ; but when shecame to Lady's room, it was all bare. Thecarpet was gone, the furniture was gone ;there was nothing lying on the bed, for thebed itself was gone. Then Dixie gave onesad littlemoan . Shewas frightened and be-wildered. What could have happened, andwhat was going to happen? She walkedslowly downstairs and went out of doors.The kittens were playing in the grass. Oneof them jumped up and tried to catch heras she went by to persuade her to play withthem ; but she did not stop till she wasin the darkest corner under the barn,a wretched, despairing little cat. Just attwilight, Somebody Else set out a big dishof milk and another of meat and potatoes.Then she locked the door and went away,

%and ah* was dark and still and lonely. The

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DIXIE IS DESERTED 5ikittens soon went to sleep , butmany a timeduring the evening the little mothercatcrept out to look up to the house. Therewas no light anywhere, not even in Lady'sroom, where she had always seen it latest.After a while she went to sleep. Maybethings would be better in the morning;Lady would surely come back to her.

But when morning came, no Lady camewith it, and the house was still shut tight.By and by the door was unlocked andopened ; but it was a strange man whoturned the key, and other strange men fol-lowed him. Dixie peeped in through thewindow . Theywerepainting and paperingand doing other things that she had notseen done before, and she jumped downfrom thewindow-sillandranunderthebarnagain. Aftera little, sheheard some one call,4 * Dixie, Dixie!" and she hurried out. Itwas not Lady's voice, but she hoped Ladymight be there. It was Mistress. She had

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5a DIXIE KITTENasked before what Dixie liked best, andnow she had brought out a nice breakfastof it for her. She would have been glad tosmooth the little cat's head and try to com-fort her, but Dixie would have nothing todo with any one. Lady had gone away andleft her, and she was broken-hearted. Shewas angry, too, to think that her belovedLady should have treated her so cruelly.Nevertheless, all that day she watched, andall the next, and the next after that, angryto think that Lady had left her, and stillhoping and hoping that she would comeback.

At twilight of the third day, somethinghappened, for Lady came back. She cameespecially to see Dixie kitten. At the firstsound of her voice, Dixiejumpedjoyfully ;then she remembered how unkind Ladyhad been, and when Ladybegan to smooththe little blackhead, Dixie slipped out fromunder her hand and raised up herpaw and

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DIXIE IS DESERTED 53struck her dear Lady with all her might;then she ran away and hid.

Lady was not angry, for she was one ofthe People who know how little cats anddogs and birds and horses feel. She under-stood how grieved and hurt the little kittenwas ; but there was nothing that she coulddo to help her just then. It would all havebeen right and comfortable if she couldhave explained matters to Dixie, but therewas no way of making her understand.

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IT was a great pity that Dixie could nothave heard and understood the little talkbetween Lady and Mistress before Ladywent to the new house. " Master says youshall have her if you like," said Mistress."But I know that he values her," repliedLady, * * and if she will only go back to thebarn and be happy, I won't take her. Sup-pose I leave her a few days and see if shewon't be friendly with the other cats andlive with them comfortably. If she reallywon't, then I will come for her. If Dixiehad known of this talk, she would nothave been so hurt and angry ; but she sup-posed Lady had abandoned her, and shewas miserable. She did not forget, butgrew more and more angry as the dayspassed. Lady came to see her again. Dixie

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A HAPPY LITTLE CAT 55was so glad that she could not help purr-ing for a minute ; then she rememberedLady's unkindness, and she walked awayup the path. She sat down with her backto Lady and looked over her shoulder ather reproachfully.

Lady meant to come for Dixie on thefollowing day, but she was called out oftown, and it was three weeks before shecould set off with a rattan extension-caseto get the kitten. When she came to thegate of the lawn, it was almost dark, andDixie was roaming about close to thehouse, a lonely little shadow. The Peoplewho now lived in the house had been verygood to the kittens. The Heavenly Twinshad gone to live with a kind-heartedwatchman, who wanted them to keep himfrom being lonely at night ; but the othertwo were living with the People in theirold home. "We wanted to be good toDixie ," said one ofthe People in the house ,

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56 DIXIE KITTEN(t and we tried to pet her. Sometimes afterdark, when the children had gone to bed,she would come in and wander about fromone room to another. If we paid muchattention to her or tried to take her up,she would run out again ; but if we let heralone, she would sometimes stay half theevening. "

Buttercup and Topsy were runningabout and playing as if nothing had hap-pened, for kittens have short memories,and theyhad quite forgotten Lady. Indeed ,they had almost forgotten Dixie, for whenkittens grow large, they forget their mo-thers, and their mothers forget them, too.People who are mothers always love theirchildren, no matter how tall they havegrown ; but cats cease to care anythingabout their kittens as soon as the kittensare old enough and big enough to takecare of themselves.Poor little Dixie was roaming about in

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A HAPPY LITTLE CAT 67the gloom, alone and miserable, and toowretched even to run away. Lady put herhand upon her, and she was grieved to feelhow thin the little cat had grown . Her silkyfur was rough and harsh, and she did notseem half so large as she had been before." You poor little Dixie kitten," said Lady,tenderly, ' ' I shall have to frighten you fora little while, but I think you will behappyafterwards . " She held the kitten firmly andput her into the rattan case. Mistress shutdown the cover in a twinkling, and in halfa minute the straps were fastened and Dixiewas a prisoner. Ofcourse she cried, for shewas terribly alarmed ; but Lady talked toher and soothed her, and before they werein the car she was quiet.

It was not long before the car stoppedat theRoadwhere thenew house was . Ladygot out and carried the extension-case tothe door and into the house. A Caller wasthere, for Somebody Else had told her that

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58 DIXIE KITTEN

Lady had gone to get Dixie, and shehad

waited to seehow the kittenwould behave .6 1 Though I don't believe Lady will be ableto catch her,' 1 ' she had said. "Gats carenothing for people. They are selfish littlecreatures, and all they want is to be com-fortable. Probably this one has forgottenall about her by this time."When Lady came in, the Caller said,' 'You 'd better open the case in the kitchen.The cat will probably be as crazy as a loon,and shemaydash aboutand tear things anddo a great deal of damage.'" So the Callerand Lady and Somebody Else and the casewith the kitten all went to the kitchen;and Lady began very slowly and gently toloosen the straps. It was all so quiet in thecase that she wondered whether it couldhave been so close that the poor little catwas half smothered, and she pulled the laststrap off in a great hurry. "You'd betterbe careful," said the Caller, ' ' and not have

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A HAPPY LITTLE CAT 59your face too near. You never can trust acat, and no one can tell what she will do.She may spring right at you.' : Lady didnot believe Dixie would do any such thing,and she took the cover off in a twinkling.Dixie stepped quietly out of the case andlooked around her. She saw Lady andSomebody Else, and she saw the Motherstanding in the doorway. They talked toher, and patted her, and told her they wereglad to see her. Dixie forgot the lonelydays at the old house when she thoughtLady had abandoned her. It was all past;Ladyhad remembered her andhad broughther home, and now she was going to livewith Lady and be really her own little cat.Never was a cat so happy before, and shepurred so, she could be heard far into thedining-room. As Lady bent over her, shestretched up and tried to rub her faceagainst Lady's. She ran about the roomand touched with her keen little nose the

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60 DIXIE KITTENstove hearth, the chairs, the rugs, the tablecover, one familiar thingafteranother ; andevery minute or two she ran back to Ladyto tell her how glad she was to be with her." Dixie dear, how miserable you musthave been," said Lady, with tears in hereyes.

' ' I never knew that just a cat could beeither so happy or so unhappy," said theCaller, with tears in her eyes, too. As forSomebody Else, she had long been wipingher own eyes when she thought no onewaslooking ; so i twas really quite a tearful time.By and by Dixie discovered in a corner alittle dish heaped full of the canned salmonthat she especially liked, for on the wayhome Ladyhad stopped aminute to go intoa store to buy it to celebrate the homecom-ing. Close beside the salmon was a half-open package that smelled wonderfullygood. Even Dixie's small black nose wouldnot go into it, but it was too tempting to

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A HAPPY LITTLE GAT 61leave, for it was catnip. At length shepushed in her little paw, curled it up, andbrought out a mouthful, which she heldupand ate just as a boy would eat a piece ofcandy.

It was pretty late in the evening by thistime. The Caller went home, and Ladycalled Dixie to go to bed. There was a goodsoft bed allmade ready forher in the cellar.It was in a barrel of shavings, for cats like tosleep high up from the floor. Near the bar-rel was a saucer of milk, for fear she mightbe thirsty in the night. It was all very com-fortable, but I do not believe that Dixiewent to sleep at once. Cats like to know allabout a place that is new to them, and Ihave no doubt that she examined everycorner of the cellar before she curled her-self up to rest. I am almost sure, too, thatshe purred herself to sleep, and that shehad happy dreams all night long.

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WHEN the Caller went away, she said, "Inever knew that a cat could behave likethat. She acts as if she really loved you asmuch as a person could do. Still, they saycats care for places rather than people;and if I were you, I would shut her up fortwo or three days till she gets used to thehouse, and then she will not try to runaway.""But if she wants to run away," re-plied Lady, "I do not want to keep herhere."And Somebody Else said softly to her-self, " Run away? You couldn't drag her

away.' 1When morning came, a very happy andcurious little cat stepped up from the eel-

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THE NEW HOUSE 63lar and began to look about the house.There were only a few things in it that shehad not seen before, but they were all innew places ; and so she found a great dealto examine. Instead of carpets, however,shefoundmany rugs. She was not sure thatshe liked this, for sometimes she slipped alittle on the hardwood floors. The stairsdid not go straight up, but made a turn.This was a delightful change, for she couldrun up part way, then turn and look backthrough the balusters. After a while shecame to the study. Here she found a newbookcase. It was far better than the tallones, she thought, for it was much lower,and she felt sure that the top of it would bean excellent place for a kitten to take a nap.Two or three mirrorswerenow eitherhunglow, or were over tables so she could jumpup and look into them, and Somebody Elsedeclared that the kitten would surely be-come vain if these were not changed, for

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64 DIXIE KITTENshe liked so much to sit in front of themand gaze at her own little self. The win-dows she liked especially, for they wereso low that even a little cat could stretchup and rest her forepaws on the sills andsee all that was going on out of doors.Better still, at one of the windows Ladyhad put a plush-covered foot-rest, and hereDixie could sit comfortably in the sun-shine and watch the People going by.

After a while Dixie began to wonderwhat was out of doors, and she let Some-body Else know that she wished the dooropened. Somebody Else had not forgottenthat the Caller had said the cat would runaway ; but evidently such an idea neverentered Dixie's pretty little head. Shewalked slowly around the house. Therewas a piazza at the back; and that suitedher ; but shewas still more pleasedwith thefront piazza. It was reached by five or sixsteps, and there was a high railing where

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THE NEW HOUSE 65a cat could sit; and no dog would dareto come near her. There were shrubs oneither side of the walk, with fine cool placesto sleep, or to lie awake and watch every-thing that was going on. There was plentyofgrass , thereweretwognarled apple-treesbehind the house, and beyond them therewas afine old stone wall that had stood eversince the days when no one had dreamedof turning the great Baldwin orchard intohouse-lots. Some of the rough stones werecovered with green moss, and they castsoft gray shadows. Here and there a bitof white quartz flashed in the sunshine.Bright orange nasturtiums ran over thewall, and some tall hollyhocks stood closebeside it in neighborly fashion. It was abeautiful old wall. Dixie thought so, too;but the reason she liked it was because shewas sure that in some one of those shad-owy places she would certainly find a fieldmouse.

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66 DIXIE KITTENIt took Dixie the whole forenoon to look

at everything around the house and smellof it. Moreover, in the course of themorn-ing she had a caller. It was not exactlya friendly call, for this Next-Door Cathad been in the habit of coming to seethe People who used to live in the house,and she was not pleased to see another catmaking herself at home there. She camethrough the little barberry hedge and said"Meow! 71 in a surprised and aggrievedfashion. I suppose it meant, "Who areyouand what are you here for?" but Dixie didnot deign to answer. Shejumpedupon thepiazza railing and looked straight at theNext^Door Gat. The Next-Door Gat ran upthe nearest apple-tree and looked straightat her. After a while, the Next-Door Catsaid " Meow-ow-owP ! and came downfrom the apple-tree. She gave one morelook over her shoulder at Dixie, but Dixiewas opening and shutting her mouth as

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THE NEW HOUSE 67fast as ever she could, as if she meantto devour everything in sight. The Next-Door Cat marched straight to the gap inthe low barberry hedge and went home.This was Dixie's first caller.

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DIXIESo it was that the wild little barn cat be-came a house cat. Shehad come to livewithbusy people, and I fancy she thought thatshe was as busy as they. In the morning,as soon as she heard the steps ofSomebodyElse, she ran to the top of the stairs to beready tocome out themoment that the doorwas opened. The next thing to do was to goup to Lady's room. The door was almostalways closed, but Dixie sat down beside itand waited patiently until she heard somelittle sounds within. Then she rubbed onthe door with the little pads on the bottomof her paw, very softly, to be sure, butLady always heard herand opened it. Oncein a while Dixie went out of doors whenshe first came up from the cellar, and oc-casionally it happened that she could not

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 69get in again at once. That did not troubleher, for she had another way of reachingLady's room that she liked fully as well asgoing by the hall and the stairs. Not farfrom the front piazza there grew an apple-tree. Dixie could runup this tree,walk care-fully out on a slender branch, and jump tothe piazza roof. A little way beyond thefarther end of the roof was one of the win-dows of Lady's room. The blind nearestthis roof was usually closed, and there wasnot room enough on the sill to hold evena kitten ; but Dixie would go to the veryedge of the roof and scratch. ' ' Is that you,Dixie?" Lady would ask. " Meow, "Dixiewould reply, and any one would know thatthis meant "Yes." Then Lady would gointo the little room that opened on theroof and let her in. So it was that everymorning the kitten made sure that Ladywas safe and sound, and came to purr toher while she was dressing.

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70 DIXIE KITTENAfter Lady and Dixie had both eaten

breakfast, Lady took a few minutes for themorning paper. Of course it was a greathelp to her to have a small black cat lie onher lap ; and I am sure I do not know howshe could have sether room in order unlessthe same little cat had sat on the window-sill watching her. When Lady went to thestudy, Dixie always went with her to stayby her while she wrote. This study was anexcellent place for a nap. Sometimes Dixielay on top ofthe low bookcase, where Ladyhad put a cushion for her benefit ; some-times she stretched herself out on the car-pet in thesunshine ; andsometimesshehada comfortable little snooze on a corner ofthe big library table. If she did not care tosleep, there were various things that a kit-ten could do in the study to amuse herself.She could sit at the window and watch thebirds in the apple-trees, or sometimes a doghurrying home across lots. She could run

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 71over the typewriter keys if she chose, andeven across the big table. Indeed, she soonlearned that the surest way to make Ladypay attention to her was to walk slowlyover the paper on which she was writing,or even to sit down upon it and begin totake a bath . Once she sat downupon a loosepile of books and papers, and a momentlater books, papers, and Dixie slid to thefloor together, with a great thump. Sheturned and gazed at them with surpriseandwrath, but not the least bit of fear. Shewasafraid of sudden noises elsewhere, how-ever. While a carpenter was at work inthe kitchen, she utterly refused to eat hermeals in the room unless Lady stood besideher. She seemed to feel convinced thatSomebody Else was to blame for all thathammering, and for several days after itceased she refused to have anything to dowith her while in the kitchen, though shewas friendly enough in other places. In

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Lady's study she felt safe, and apparentlyshe had come to the conclusion that in thatroom nothing could ever hurt kittens.WheneverDixiewas in trouble she alwaysran to the study for comfort. One day shedashed into the room and sat down in frontof Lady and gazed at her so earnestly andwith such an air of wanting to tell some-thing that Lady called to Somebody Elseand asked if anything had happened toDixie. "Sure, there has,'" replied Some-body Else. "Now that the screens arein, the window-sill is not wide enough tohold her, and when she jumped from therailing to the window, she fell down. Shewouldn't stop for a bit of dinner, but ranupstairs as fast as ever she could go." Oncewhen Lady had been away for a month, shemissed the kitten after the first greeting.Some time later she went to the study, andthere sat Dixie in the dark, patiently wait-ing for her to appear.

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 78In some ways Dixie was remarkablyobedient. If she was in the street and Lady

knocked on the window, she would comerunning home as promptly as the best ofchildren. If she was upstairs and Ladycalled her to come down, you could hearon the instant the jump of a little catoften from a down quilt on a bed or fromsome other forbidden place, I am sorry tosay to the floor ; and in half a minuteshe was hurrying downstairs to see whatwas wanted. Onemorning Lady called, butDixie did not come . Some tenminutes latershe burst into the kitchen like a little foot-ball rush with a long ' * Meow-yow-yow-yow! ' ' which sounded so angry and indig-nant that Somebody Else called Lady anddeclared that something had surely gonewrong with Dixie. When Lady went up-stairs, she saw what had happened. Theheavy door had blown to, and it was plainthat the kitten had been working at it with

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74 DIXIE KITTENher soft little paws until she had pushed itback far enough to let her squeeze through.

Part of Dixie's work was to drive awaythe stray cats and dogs that ventured onher lawn or under her apple-trees. Some-times she herself played dog, and did herbest to guard the house. One dark nightthere was a strange clanking sound in theback yard. Lady started for the door ; butbefore she could reach it, the little cat hadcrouched all ready to make a spring as soonas the door should be opened. The noiseproved to have been made by a hungrydog at a garbage can ; and he ran away asfast as ever he could ; but I think Dixiewould have enjoyed chasing him.

Evidently Dixie felt that her first dutywas to keep watch of Lady; and this wasno easy matter when Lady was busy aboutthe house. She hurried "upstairs anddownstairs and in my lady's chamber";but wherever she went, a little black cat

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 78followed her like a shadow. This shadowbehaved somewhat unlike other shadows,however, for it had a way of catching at thehem of her dress in the hope of a frolic, orsuddenly dashing around corners at her tosurprise her, in a fashion which no prop-erly behaved shadow would ever dream offollowing.Another of Dixie's duties was to enter-

tain the Mother. The Mother had alwaysbeen afraid of cats , and she had never likedthem, but she could not help liking Dixie.The kitten often went to her room and layon a small high table in the sunshine whilethe Mother sat in her big easy-chair andtalked to her. Dixie purred back, and theywere very comfortable together, and thebest of friends.When callers came, Dixie was not alto-

gether pleased. Sometimes she would turnher back on them, march straight upstairs,and not come down again until she heard

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76 DIXIE KITTENthe front door close ; but generally shethought it better to keep pretty close watchof them. She was inclined to think thatLadypaid them too much attention; there-fore she would often jump into Lady's lapand insist upon remaining there until theywere ready to start for home.Another one of Dixie's responsibilitieswas the telephone, and she always ran toit at the first ring. Her care of it was a greatconvenience to Lady, for the telephonebell and the doorbell sounded so nearlyalike that before Dixie came, she had oftenmade mistakes, and had hurried to thetelephone when the doorbell rang. Dixienever made a mistake, however, andwhenLadysawher running to the telephone, shedid not have to guess which bell had rung.The telephone was as much of a mysteryto Dixie as it is to some other folk. Shewould jump up on the table to listen,and would put her head on one side with

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 77a puzzled look. One day she stretched outher soft little paw and touched Lady's lipsto see if she could not find out where thosestrange sounds came from. Once Ladyasked the friend with whom she was talk-ing to call " Dixie! ' Then the kitten waspuzzled indeed. She looked at the receiverfrom all sides and even tried to get her headinto it. At last she left it andjumped downfrom the table; for most certainly she hadcome upon something that no kitten couldunderstand.

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Continued

DIXIE had her small troubles, and she didnot always bear them like a good child in astory-book. At one time Lady thought shewas having too much salmon, and she setdown some bread and milk for her. Thisdid not sui t Dixie at all . She sniffed at itandwalked away. Through the morning shewent to it once in a while, plainly hopingthat it had changed into salmon ; and eachtime when she saw that it was still breadand milk, she gave a little growl and turnedaway as angrily as a cross child that doesnot like his breakfast. She thought Ladywould yield, and it was not until almostsupper-time that she concluded to eat thatbread and milk. Another one of her trialswas the swing doorbetween thepantry and

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 79the dining-room. She did not like doorsthat went both ways and did not stay shutafter they had been shut. Even when Ladyor Somebody Else held the door open forher, she was afraid, and when she hadscrewed up her courage and run throughit at full speed, she would turn and lookat it over her shoulder as if there wasno knowing what that thing might do yet,and she would not trust it behind herback for a moment.

Still another of her troubles was thatneither in the attic, nor in the cellar, noramong the soft grayshadows ofthat beauti-ful old stone wall could she ever succeed infinding a mouse. I have no idea how manylong nights she mayhave spent wanderingabout the cellar and watching beside everypromising hole; but I do know that wher-ever in the house she might be, she neverfailed to hear the opening of the atticdoor. Then she would scamper upstairs as

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80 DIXIE KITTENfast as her feet could carry her. She wouldexamine every corner and every hole,and finally walk slowly downstairs withas nearly a look of anger and disgust asher happy face could be made to wear.

Dixie finally concluded that there wereno mice in her house, but she still hopedshe might find one in that of her next-doorneighbor. The first time that his cellar doorwas left open, she slipped in, and there shestayed. He tried to coax her out, then tofrighten her out, and then he told Lady.Lady went to the door and said, "Dixie,come right home," and Dixie steppeddown daintily from a pile of wood andwent home. This was her last search formice. The kind neighbor was sorry for herdisappointment, and one day he broughther two that had been caught at his store.Dixie looked at them gravely. Then shestretched out her paw and touched one ofthem. It did not move, and she turned

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 81around and walked away scornfully andungratefully. She did not care for deadmice; what she wanted was the fun ofcatching live ones.

But of all the troubles that came to thepetted cat, the very worst of all was her get-ting angry with Lady. There was a certaincushion that Dixie thought was speciallyher own, and one sad and sorry day Ladyneeded to open the box on which it lay,and put her off. Then Dixie was angry.Lady pointed her finger at her and said* ' Shame ! " and told her she was a naughtycat. A cat cannot bear to be scolded. Dixiestood looking straight into Lady's face.She growled and she spit, and was in asfurious a little temper as one could ima-gine. Suddenly she seemed to rememberthat it was Lady, her own best friend,toward whom she was behaving so badly.She stopped growling, turned away for amoment, and then came running up to

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8a DIXIE KITTEN

Lady, purring and rubbing against herfeet, and trying in every pretty little waythat she knew to make her understandwhat a penitent cat she was.

Most cats become more sedate as theygrow older, but Dixie became more play-ful. When she was a barn cat, she neverplayed, and she would gaze with the ut-most gravity and a dignified air of indif-ference and surprise if any one tried totempt her to run for a ball. Now, how-ever, she was always ready for a game.She played with everything, with a tableleg, a corner of a rug, or the hem of Lady'sdress. She playedwith the dry leaveson theground. When it snowed, she played withthe snowflakes. Sometimes she caughtthem in her paw and held them up to ex-amine them more closely. Then when shefound that they had disappeared, her lookof amazement was comical enough. Shewould run out of doors in the rain and play

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 83with the drops or with the tiny streamsof water running off the sidewalk. Shedid not mind getting wet in the least, andsometimes she would sit a long while on apiazza post in a pouring rain . The momentshe came into the house, however, she setto work to dry herself. With only her littletongue to use as a towel, this was rather aslow business, and two or three times Ladywiped her furwith a cloth . Dixiewas some-what surprised, but she did not object.Evidently she soon discovered how muchtrouble this saved her, and whenever shewas wet, shewould go to the drawer whereherown particular towel was kept and waittill Somebody Else wiped her dry. One dayshe was so thoroughly drenched that shefelt in need of comfort as much as towel,and she ran to the study to show herselfto Lady. She stood in the doorway a mo-ment, then walked up to Lady with a longandmuch aggrieved * * Meow-ow-ow-ow 1 r

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84 DIXIE KITTENwhich meant, as any one might know," Lady, isn't this a shame? Did you eversee a little cat so wet before?"

Dixie's notions of what was proper andwhat was not proper were decidedly origi-nal. Things to eat she never touched unlessthey were given to her, but things to playwith were free plunder. One unlucky dayLady gave her an empty spool, and afterthis all spools were her province. Unfortu-nately, she preferred those that had threadon them. She liked thimbles, too, and shewouldjump up on the table where Lady'swork-basket stood, select a thimble or aspool to play with, andjump down with it inhermouth. If she had a spool full of thread,she was happy ; but when Lady came intothe room, she did not always sympathizewith the kitten in her pleasure, for thatthread was almost sure to be wound abouteverything in the room except the spool.

Indeed, Dixie kitten of the house was a

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DIXIE IN HER HOME 85very different little cat from Dixie kittenof the barn. She was as happy as the dayswere long. I might as well say, ' ' As happyas the nights were long," for she did notdread bedtime now, as in the times whenshe was sent out of the warm sitting-roomto the barn. She never stayed out all night,and she was always willing to go to bed.Lady could have told a secret about this ifshe had chosen. It was that Dixie knew anice little lunch was always waiting for herat the foot of the stairs. It is no wonderthat she did not care to spend nights awayfrom home. The Caller stood by one even-ing while Lady was preparing the lunch."How you do spoil that cat! ' she saidlaughingly. Lady replied thoughtfully," Spoil her? I only make her happy, andI don' t believe it spoils either cats or peopleto be happy. What do you think about it,Dixie kitten? " and Dixie answered ' ' Purr-r-r-r" contentedly.

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86 DIXIE KITTENNow when people wish to write the life

of a person, they generally wait until heis dead maybe because they are afraidhe may contradict what they have saidof him. Dixie is not dead by any means.She is sitting on the corner of the tablethis very minute, gazing straight at mypaper; but this life of her is so true that itwould not trouble me in the least if sheshould read every word of it.

CENT Cc>

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