The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-10-30
How Pussy Died.


One day in the early spring little
girl went with her father to bazaar.
She had three shillings to spend, and
find to buy. And she bought tiny,
wee kitten, with blue ribbon round
its neck. She carried it home herself,
and puss grew fat and merry, and her
little mistress loved her dearly.
One morning, two or three months
later, when the spring had almost
turned into summer, and when Pussy's
life was chiefly spent in playing about
the garden, or sleeping in the warm
sunshine, two little girls were standing
near an open window. 1t was o'clock,
and breakfast was not ready, so they
were watching the happy birds as they
flew past. singing, and thinking about
their nests. Ii was the little girl who
had bought the kitten, and q sister,
only three years older than herself.
All of a sudden terrible loud noise
was heard quite close to the window,
which frightened her so much that the
younger began to cry; and the elder
child would have cried, too, if she had
not been too busy trying to comfort her
little sister.
Don't cry, darling" she whispered /;
=" it is only Tom in the next garden
shooting he won't hurt us. Still
comforting her little sister with gentle
words, she looked once more out of the
window, and her eye caught sight of
something moving on the grass in the
next garden. 1t was Pussy. But what
made her walk in that old way, drag
cling her leg and twisting herself
about? She had been shot ! No one
was there to tell the child, but as she
looked she knew in a moment that
the gun that had just gone off, and
frightened them SO much, had shot lit
tie Pussy.
What should you have done, little
boy or girl, who reads my storyp / will
tell you what this little girl did. She
held her lips quite tight together, that
she might not cry, and said softly to
her sister, " / must go away for few
minutes, darling" and then she ran
down into the garden. And the thought
that filed her mind as she went was,
"Oh, 1 am glad little sister did not see
Pussy y
Into the garden she ran, and all about
she looked, and at last, under the green
bush where she had so often lain bask-
ing in the pleasant sunshine, the child
saw Pussy lying stiff aud still. She
had crawled to her own little sunny
bed 10 die She did not new, OF
make any sound, only one leg moved q
very little. Not far off was the gar
dener, busy moving the grass. He was
kind man, and came to see what was
the matter. He took up Pussy in his
hands.
E" She is dead" said the gardener
what shall do with her ?"
Then thought came into the child's
mind, " Ii we DO not hide her quite
away, sister will wish to see Pussy. and
that will cause her much grief" At the
bottom of the garden flowed the river.
wide and still. Put her in there" she
said, looking up to the gardener.
And down the path where Pussy had
often played so merrily, and the chill
dren had laughed to watch her jumping
and skipping in the sunshine. she was
carried now, for the last time. TIL,
kind gardener tied stone round he
neck, and put her very gently into tn,
river, and the water closed over her
Goodbye, Pussy" Then the chill,
turned, and went slowly and sadly int,
the house. Her little sister had com
down to breakfast she had forgotten