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 is all very well for a single cat; but when a cat has a young family it comes pretty hard to keep them supplied with food. I never let my children eat mice; it doesn't agree with them,—gives 'em the stomach-ache and makes 'em fitty."

"It's no harm to give 'em a mouse to play with," said the house-cat; "I often do mine."

"When you catch one, which isn't often," said the barn-cat in an undertone.

"What was that you said?" asked the house-cat sharply; "be kind enough to say it a little louder."

"Oh, come, come," put in the canary, "do let the gray kitten go on with her story. You were telling us that your mother had to catch all the food for you."

"Yes," continued the little gray kitten, "so she did. She often brought us mice, and sometimes a bird,—birds agreed best with us, she said."