At the side wall of the house there is a small aperture, of about two
feet square, opening into the kitchen, and intended for the use and
convenience of butchers, bakers, or grocers, who would otherwise have
to go round to the back entrance; inside of this aperture is suspended
a bell, which Miss Muffy must, no doubt, have often seen used by
butchers, bakers, and grocers, to call the attention of cook. She has,
therefore, adopted the same plan; and when tired of her prowlings
about the garden, or hunting for birds in the adjoining wood, she
springs up to the little door, and, with her paw or head, keeps ring,
ring, ringing at the bell until the door is opened, and she gets
admission.

Muffy is not only a very intelligent little cat, but I can tell you
she is also a very good-natured one, too. She submits to being dressed
in the doll's clothes, and will sometimes lie quite still in the
cradle for hours together, and when told to stand upon her hind legs
and give a kiss, does so with a gracefulness hitherto unknown in the
annals of cats.

These funny marks of intelligence in dumb creatures are quite
interesting. As you grow older, you will spend many an hour in trying
to discover where the dividing line between INSTINCT and REASON is. It
is SOMEWHERE. If you hatch some chickens by heat, miles away from any
other fowls, the hens will cackle, and the cocks will crow, all the
same, although no one has taught them. Why is it?

If you could hatch a robin's egg in the same way, far removed from
other birds, the bird would, when grown, build its nest precisely as
other robins do, and of the same material, although it never saw a
pattern in the world. INSTINCT, or, if you prefer, NATURE, teaches all
this. But it is not REASON, as you will know as you grow older.

Just exactly so it is the instinct of a dog or a cat to obey you
whenever you require it. Take notice that you can never teach a dumb
creature by observation. One cat will never learn to turn over by
observing that another one gets its food thereby.

But I will not try to mix you up in this discussion now. You will
reach it soon enough if you live. And when you reach it, you will find
a very difficult, as well as a very interesting question to solve.

ROBERT HANDY.

[Illustration: {The children watch the toy village burning}]

HOLIDAY LUCK.

"Mother, mother!" with a prolonged _er_.

"Mary, where's mothe