Simon, but Susan sighed, for she had been
very fond of the poor creature.

Now it happened that the cat and dog met each other on their travels,
and though they had not been the best of friends at home, they were
quite glad to meet among strangers. They sat down under a holly tree and
both poured forth their woes.

Presently a fox passed by, and seeing the pair sitting together in a
disconsolate fashion, he asked them why they sat there, and what they
were grumbling about.

The cat replied, 'I have caught many a mouse in my day, but now that I
am old and past work, my master wants to drown me.'

And the dog said, 'Many a night have I watched and guarded my master's
house, and now that I am old and deaf, he wants to hang me.'

The fox answered, 'That's the way of the world. But I'll help you to get
back into your master's favour, only you must first help me in my own
troubles.'

They promised to do their best, and the fox continued, 'The wolf has
declared war against me, and is at this moment marching to meet me in
company with the bear and the wild boar, and to-morrow there will be a
fierce battle between us.'

'All right,' said the dog and the cat, 'we will stand by you, and if we
are killed, it is at any rate better to die on the field of battle
than to perish ignobly at home,' and they shook paws and concluded the
bargain. The fox sent word to the wolf to meet him at a certain place,
and the three set forth to encounter him and his friends.

The wolf, the bear, and the wild boar arrived on the spot first, and
when they had waited some time for the fox, the dog, and the cat, the
bear said, 'I'll climb up into the oak tree, and look if I can see them
coming.'

The first time he looked round he said, 'I can see nothing,' and the
second time he looked round he said, 'I can still see nothing.' But the
third time he said, 'I see a mighty army in the distance, and one of the
warriors has the biggest lance you ever saw!'

This was the cat, who was marching along with her tail erect.

And so they laughed and jeered, and it was so hot that the bear said,
'The enemy won't be here at this rate for many hours to come, so I'll
just curl myself up in the fork of the tree and have a little sleep.'

And the wolf lay down under the oak, and the wild boar buried himself in
some straw, so that nothing was seen of him but one ear.

And while they were lying there, the fox, the cat and the dog arrived.
When the cat saw th