yellow friend, the cat, lay upon the hearth rug, basking
in the warmth of the fire, pricking up her ears, and turning her head from
the children to Grandfather, and from Grandfather to the children, as if
she felt herself very sympathetic with them all. A loud purr, like the
singing of a tea-kettle, or the hum of a spinning-wheel, testified that
she was as comfortable and happy as a cat could be. For Puss had feasted,
and therefore, like Grandfather and the children, had kept a good
Thanksgiving.

"Does Pussy want to hear me?" said Grandfather, smiling. "Well; we must
please Pussy, if we can!"

And so he took up the history of the chair, from the epoch of the peace of
1748. By one of the provisions of the treaty, Louisbourg, which the New
Englanders had been at so much pains to take, was restored to the king of
France.

The French were afraid, that, unless their colonies should be better
defended than heretofore, another war might deprive them of the whole.
Almost as soon as peace was declared, therefore, they began to build
strong fortifications in the interior of North America. It was strange to
behold these warlike castles, on the banks of solitary lakes, and far in
the midst of woods. The Indian, paddling his birch-canoe on Lake
Champlain, looked up at the high ramparts of Ticonderoga, stone piled on
stone, bristling with cannon, and the white flag of France floating above.
There were similar fortifications on Lake Ontario, and near the great
Falls of Niagara, and at the sources of the Ohio River. And all around
these forts and castles lay the eternal forest; and the roll of the drum
died away in those deep solitudes.

The truth was, that the French intended to build forts, all the way from
Canada to Louisiana. They would then have had a wall of military strength,
at the back of the English settlements, so as completely to hem them in.
The king of England considered the building of these forts as a sufficient
cause of war, which was accordingly commenced in 1754.

"Governor Shirley," said Grandfather, "had returned to Boston in 1753.
While in Paris, he had married a second wife, a young French girl, and now
brought her to the Province House. But, when war was breaking out, it was
impossible for such a bustling man to stay quietly at home, sitting in our
old chair, with his wife and children round about him. He therefore
obtained a command in the English forces."

"And what did Sir William Pepperell do?" asked