to
a cat the sound of the grinding of a coffee-mill inside shall
perpetually remind him of your guilt and shame!"

With that the Genius vanished in a cloud of smoke.

And it was even as he said. From that day Sooty Will could never abide
having his back stroked without humping it up to conceal the mill within
him; and never did he hump up his back but the coffee-mill began slowly
to grind, _rr-rr-rr-rr!_ inside him; so that, even in the prime of life,
before his declining days had come, being seized upon by a great remorse
for these things which might never be amended, he retired to a home for
aged and reputable cats, and there, so far as the records reveal, lived
the remainder of his days in charity and repentance.

But the curse has come down even to the present day, as the Genius that
Lived under the Great Ovens said, and still maintains, though cats have
probably forgotten the facts, and so, when stroked, hump up their backs
and purr as if these actions were a matter of pride instead of being a
blot upon their family record.

[Illustration: "HE RETIRED TO A HOME FOR AGED AND REPUTABLE CATS"]

[Illustration: STORIES FROM SCANDINAVIA]

THE GREEDY CAT

Once on a time there was a man who had a Cat, and she was so awfully
big, and such a beast to eat, he couldn't keep her any longer. So she
was to go down to the river with a stone round her neck, but before she
started she was to have a meal of meat. So the goody set before her a
bowl of porridge and a little trough of fat. That the creature crammed
into her, and ran off and jumped through the window. Outside stood the
goodman by the barn-door threshing.

"Good day, goodman," said the Cat.

"Good day, pussy," said the goodman; "have you had any food to-day?"

"Oh, I've had a little, but I'm 'most fasting," said the Cat; "it was
only a bowl of porridge and a trough of fat--and, now I think of it,
I'll take you, too," and so she took the goodman and gobbled him up.

When she had done that, she went into the byre, and there sat the goody
milking.

"Good day, goody," said the Cat.

"Good day, pussy," said the goody; "are you here, and have you eaten up
your food yet?"

"Oh, I've eaten a little to-day, but I'm 'most fasting," said pussy; "it
was only a bowl of porridge, and a trough of fat, and the goodman--and,
now I think of it, I'll take you, too," and so she took the goody and
gobbled her up.

"Good day, you cow at the manger," said the