hold with a plentiful meal.

"What was more remarkable, puss continued to do this for nearly three
weeks, until better times dawned upon them, when she suddenly ceased the
habit, and never was known to take to the water again."

"Wasn't that a good kitty, mamma?" cried Minnie, giving Fidelle an extra
squeeze. "She was a useful cat."

"Yes, my dear; and when your father comes home, I think he can find a
number of instances where cats have overcome their dislike of wet feet,
and have become expert fishers."

In the evening, Minnie did not forget to remind her father that she
liked to hear stories. Running up on the steps, she took the volume from
its place, and playfully put it into his hands.

After repeating to him the incident her mother had related in the
morning, he turned over the leaves, and presently found the following:--

"At Caverton Mill, in Roxburghshire, a beautiful spot on the Kale water,
there was a famous cat domesticated in the dwelling house, which stood
two or three hundred yards from the mill. When the mill work ceased, the
water was nearly stopped at the dam head, and below, therefore, ran
gradually more shallow, often leaving trout, which had ascended when it
was full, to struggle back with difficulty to the parent stream.

"So well acquainted had puss become with this circumstance, and so fond
was she of fish, that the moment she heard the noise of the mill clapper
cease, she used to scamper off to the dam, and, up to her belly in
water, continue to catch fish like an otter."

"That is really a curious instance," remarked Mrs. Lee, "where the
instinct of puss amounted almost to reason. She connected the stopping
of the wheel with the shutting off the water, and found by experience
that at such times the trout could be seen."

"Here is another," added Mr. Lee, "related by the Plymouth Journal, in
England."

"A cat who had for many years attached herself to the guard house, was
in the constant habit of diving into the sea, and bringing up the fish
alive in her mouth, for the use of the soldiers. At the time this
account was given, she was seven years old, and had long been a useful
caterer. It is supposed that she first ventured into the water, to which
cats have a natural aversion, in pursuit of the water rats, but at
length became as fond of it as a Newfoundland dog. She took her regular
walk along the rocks at the edge of the point, looking out for her prey,
and ready to dive in at a mo