aring for her injuries. Just before
"Bob" had fully recovered, there came a heavy fall of snow, which was
followed by such a succession of storms that we concluded to keep her
with us, provided she was willing to stay. We gave her the freedom of
the house. For some time she was wild and shy; under a chair or the
lounge she would scurry if any one approached her. Plainly, she did
not feel welcome or safe in our house, and I gave up the idea of
taming her. One day, however, we had lettuce for dinner, and while we
were at the table Sarah, my eldest daughter, who has a gift for taming
and handling wild creatures, declared that Bob should eat out of her
hand before night. All that afternoon she tempted her with bits of
lettuce, and when evening came, had succeeded so well that never after
was Bob afraid of us. Whenever we sat down for a meal, Bob would come
running and quietly go in turn to each with coaxing sounds and
pleading looks, wanting to be fed. It was against the rules to feed
her at meals, but first one, then another, would slip something to
her under the table, trying at the same time to appear innocent. The
girls have always maintained that their mother, who made the rule, was
the first one to break it. No one could resist Bob's pretty, dainty,
coaxing ways.

"She is particularly fond of pie-crust, and many a time I have found
the edge picked off the pie I had intended for dinner. Bob never fails
to find a pie, if one is left uncovered. I think it is the shortening
in the pie-crust that gives it the delicious flavor, for lard she
prefers above all of her many foods. She cares least of all for grain.
My daughters say that Bob's fondness for graham gems accounts for the
frequency of their recent appearances on our table.

"After trying many places, Bob at last found a roosting-place that
suited her. This was in a leather collar-box on the bureau, where
she could nestle up close to her own image in the mirror. Since
discovering this place she has never failed to occupy it at night.
She is intelligent, and in so many ways pleasing that we are greatly
attached to her."

Here I had to leave Bob and her good friends behind; but some months
afterward my hostess of that winter day told me the concluding
chapters of Bob's life.

"Bob disliked to be handled; though pleasing and irresistibly winsome,
she was not in the least affectionate, and always maintained a
dignified, ladylike reserve. But with the appearance of sp