hall purr when she is petted, play with your ball of yarn, or
growl when you give her a nice dinner.

[Illustration: MUFFY RINGING THE BELL.]

You teach your dog to bark at the word of command, to roll over, to
stand upon his hind feet, and hold up his paws, to jump through a
small hoop, to sing, and a thousand other pretty tricks; but why do
you neglect your cat? You can teach her all these things,--except to
bark,--and quite as easily. Any cat, not more than a year old, can be
taught, in less than fifteen days, to "roll over;" and she learns
other capers quite as freely. Bear in mind that to do this you have to
appeal to the creature's love of food. That is her nature. She cares
nothing for you; it is the dinner she is after. So, when you desire
to teach puss to turn over, take her when she is hungry. Put your hand
upon her back, and turn her over; and then give her a small bit of
meat. Gradually she will require less and less force. She will
understand what you want, and know what must be done in order to be
served. Never disappoint her, but let the food immediately follow
obedience. Other tricks may be taught in the same way. If you wish to
teach her to go through a hoop, you will be obliged at first to take
her up bodily, and put her through. But this will not be for a great
while. She will soon understand what you desire.

I once had a cat which would open any door in the house. She learned
herself! The latch-doors came pretty easy, but the knobs bothered her
a good deal. She persevered, however, and became an expert at either.

I have a cat now--a Maltese--which is a marvel of intelligence. There
seems to be no end to her interesting feats. She is terribly rough at
play; if you impose upon her, you must look out for her claws. She
watches for my coming from the city quite regularly; and as soon as I
sit down to read, she plants herself in my lap. She had some kittens a
few weeks ago. One evening, soon after, as I sat in the rocking-chair,
with my newspaper, puss came into the room with one of her kittens in
her mouth. She placed it carefully in my lap, and immediately went for
the other one.

A neighbor of mine has a cat which rings a bell when she is hungry.
The bell is a small one, and hangs about a yard high, so that Miss
Puss has to exert herself to reach it.

Another cat I heard of recently seems to have discovered a way to get
into the warm kitchen whenever she is accidentally shut out in the
cold.