The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-03-03
NUMBER 81.

you," and Mint put him gently on the ground
aud folded her paws.
allow Is thisY" said Douglas, sternly; "you
"I know IL" said Mint, ebut forgot how he
went across the yard and halfway down the
lane, after dark, TO pick me some catnip that
night | was i'll, because Aunt Nancy said iti
might cure me. II did cure me, and ingrati-
tudc Is the blacklist OF crimes"
"You are excused. said Douglas. .Nextr
Lady Blanche stepped forward and picked
Freddy up In her soft white plws. He
wondered what she would End to do to him,
for, so far MS he could remember, he had al
ways been kind to her-she was so pretty and
ladylike,
She st ntci him comfortably on h n lap, and
pulling a handful OF colorcd ribbons from a
pocket In her fur, began to tie HIS hair up IN
little points. she pulled very hard ana eacn
bunch. rs IL was tied, IL like forty or fifty
mosqul to-btes; but she talked to him gently, In
soft, purr ng voice. all the time she was doing
IT, telling him how becoming II was, and oe-
cnsionally stopping to stroke him. a shrek
of laughter from the other oata greeted her
finished work, and then Peter the Great came
eagerly forward, exelaiming:
It's my turn nowl Eve got the walnut
sholls all readyl' And turning Freddy on his
back, Peter squeezed his hands and feet into
walnut-shels that We're much too tight for
them, and then put him down on NIL fours and
Freddy tried TO rise. or even to roll over, Peter
grnsped him, and set him down on his hands
aud feet again. Eacn step he took was q sepa-
rate pain; the lis seemed 10 grow tighter
every minute, but Just as he thought he could
not hear II q moment longer Douglas said.
STORMY; Times upl Nextf
Then Peter the Small advanced, and, without
saynRa word, picked up Freddy's feet thus
obligina him TO walk on his hands. Although
Freddy had managed desperately to pull of
the walnnt.shells before his next prosecutor
began, he did not enjoy being "wheel-bar-
rowed about the yard, his legs firmly held,
and his arms aud hands compelled to sustain
his whole weight. Peter went faster and faster,
and Freddy, afraid to stop moving his hands,
was breathless with fatigue before he once
more heard Douglas say:
Times upl Ncxtl" THIS time he added.
As he begins to show SIGNS of waking, the
six kittens can ail go at Inn ct once
With n skiold NEW of delgh' the kittens
fell upon him the oldest exelaiming:
wen make him walk tght-ropo first
stretch the clothes-line, some of your
Five pairs of willing paws stretched the
olothes-line between two posts, and Freddy
was set upon II and left there, unsteadily bal
ancing himself, many feet from the ground.
tn n faint hope of gaining the nearest post,
and sliding down H. nc set out on his perilous
journey, with trembling feet and sw mining
head He wavered-he WINS almost gone. and
Il savage hiss arose from the cat aud onUe.
few inches farther he orept, waving his
arms wildly, and then-he fell
II was not only n droam-fall, either. His
feet went into the frying pan, he rolled from
the shelf, and walked, splutteringand choking.
with his head In the little tub of brine which
Aunt Nancy had that morning mixed for her
The kettle was boiling over. and the wator
Kissed angrily ON the stove
lie struggled 10 MS 1ect, just rs MS Hothet
and Aunt Nancy, each having heard the com
motion, came In Mt different doors.
40 mammal he cried, running into his
mothers arms, . save M from the cats! In
decd, indeed, III neyor tease them or hurt
them any moref'
Little by little Freddy was convinced that
he hid been dreaming, but his dream had been
80 terribly vivid and real thut he never forgot
It. He was very gentle with them after that.
but particularly tender and aiectionate to
Mint
"She WINS the only one OF them all who
didn't help to torment me, IN mma" he would
sny-for his muther had agreed to pretend
that 1t had all really happened" and IL was
just because I'd been tile nd to her only
once. Oh, think cats are "a great deal better
than boys-that ia, most cats than most boysH'
-Mafgaret Pdndea,Ut, IN Youths Companion.