A Boston puss, seeing the family preparing for their summer exodus, deposited her kitten in one of the open boxes, as a timely hint that it was not to be left behind; and another equally intelligent animal, before engaging in combat with a rat, dropped her kitten into a dresser drawer, determined to have it out of danger. Mr. Lang tells the story of a poor vagabond cat who, with her young son, came daily to his door to beg. The kitten, being pretty and vivacious, was adopted by a neighbouring family, and reared in luxury; but still the mother, when any especial delicacy like a bit of fish was accorded her in Christian charity, scaled the dividing wall, and gave it to the greedy little lad, who,
"With every wish of cathood well fulfilled,"
was not ashamed to eat his parent's scanty rations.
Nothing can exceed the bravery and devotion of the cat when any danger threatens her young. It is then that her apparent timidity—that feline instinct of flight which veils the resolute spirit beneath—hardens into intrepidity. It is then that she stands at bay, and shows the splendid courage of desperation, defying fate, whether it takes the form of dog, or children, or the destroying elements. St. George Mivart tells us of a cat who plunged into a swiftly running stream, and rescued her three drowning kittens, bringing them one by one
