"One summer my sister Helen and her two boys were staying with Charles,
and in the midst of the visit he was called away on business, and was
absent for several weeks. Now, Carl and Teddy were dear little fellows,
but full of mischief; and in their uncle's absence they so teased and
tormented poor Miess, taking advantage of her amiable disposition, that
she was forced at length to keep out of their way. About a week before
Charles came home she had kittens, which she carefully hid behind a
heavy book-case in the library.
"The morning of his return he had the cat in his lap petting and
caressing her as usual, and then went out for an hour. As soon as he was
gone, pussy brought her kittens one by one from their hiding-place and
laid them on the rug in the corner of the room where she had nursed and
tended all her young families before. Now she must have reasoned in this
way: 'My good, kind master has come home, and those dreadful boys who
have pinched my ears and tied things to my tail, and teased and
frightened me almost to death, will be made to behave themselves. All
danger to me and to my babies is over. Why must the pretty dears be
hidden away in that musty place? Of course master wants to see them, and
they are well worth looking at.
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