ngs.

She had added a joy to her joyless life, but she had also added a care
and a heavy weight to her heavy load. All her strength was taken now to
find food. The burden increased as the offspring grew up big enough to
scramble about the boxes, which they did daily during her absence after
they were six weeks old. That troubles go in flocks and luck in
streaks, is well known in Slumland. Kitty had had three encounters with
Dogs, and had been stoned by Malee's negro during a two days' starve.
Then the tide turned. The very next morning she found a full milk-can
without a lid, successfully robbed a barrow pensioner, and found a big
fish-head, all within two hours. She had just returned with that
perfect peace which comes only of a full stomach, when she saw a little
brown creature in her junk-yard. Hunting memories came back in
strength; she didn't know what it was, but she had killed and eaten
several Mice, and this was evidently a big Mouse with bob-tail and
large ears. Kitty stalked it with elaborate but unnecessary caution;
the little Rabbit simply sat up and looked faintly amused. He did not
try to run, and Kitty sprang on him and bore him off. As she was not
hungry, she carried him to the cracker-box and dropped him among the
Kittens. He was not much hurt. He got over his fright, and since he
could not get out of the box, he snuggled among the Kittens, and when
they began to take their evening meal he very soon decided to join
them. The old Cat was puzzled. The hunter instinct had been dominant,
but absence of hunger had saved the Rabbit and given the maternal
instinct a chance to appear. The result was that the Rabbit became a
member of the family, and was thenceforth guarded and fed with the
Kittens.

Two weeks went by. The Kittens romped much among the boxes during their
mother's absence. The Rabbit could not get out of the box. Jap Malee,
seeing the Kittens about the back yard, told the negro to shoot them.
This he was doing one morning with a 22-calibre rifle. He had shot one
after another and seen them drop from sight into the crannies of the
lumber-pile, when the old Cat came running along the wall from the
dock, carrying a small Wharf Rat. He had been ready to shoot her, too,
but the sight of that Rat changed his plans: a rat-catching Cat was
worthy to live. It happened to be the very first one she had ever
caught, but it saved her life. She threaded the lumber-maze to the
cracker-box and was probably puz