Page:Cats; their Points and Characteristics.djvu/253

Rh "Hullo!" said the dog to himself; "it's a—no, it isn't; yes, it is; hang me, if it isn't—a hare—as cheeky as you like too. IllI'll [sic] teach him."

And he did. The poor hare never required another lesson. Nor did pussy lose any time in giving the dog one. Rendered frantic by her poor friend's death, she sprang on his back and tore him with tooth and nail. One of the dog's eyes was entirely destroyed; and it need not be added he ever after gave that house a wide berth. After the untimely fate of her foster-child, pussy was extremely disconsolate, moping about and never caring to leave the house. She had not long to mourn for him however, for some months after she fell a victim to her own curiosity; for, like women, cats are extremely prying.

The cottar's wife was one day melting some tallow in a large tea-pot, which after using she left by the fire-side; and that night, when every one was in bed, pussy, who had been dying all day to know what was inside that tea-pot, "pirled" off the lid and popped her imprudent head in. Alas! she never