him stay in the house for the world; I am going to give
him to those boys at the door: and I do not care what they do with him,
for my brother Charles has given me a little beauty. Come in, and I will
show him to you."--"Stop, do stay a moment," said Paulina; "I beg you
will not give Fido to those wicked boys they will torment him to death.
It was but the other day, some wicked boys fastened a tin-pot to a poor
dog's tail, and then let him run, with it dragging after him,
frightening the poor creature almost to death. I beg of you, do not let
the hard-hearted fellows have him. Give him to me, and I will take him
to my little hospital, and nurse him as long as he lives." Fido had
gone into the kitchen (where young ladies and dogs have certainly
nothing to do), and the cook, who was very busy, preparing for a great
dinner, had thrown some boiling water over his head and back, and
scalded him in such a dreadful manner, that no one thought he could live
through the day. Emily was so much enraged with the cook, and shed so
many tears when she saw her pet suffering so much, that every one
thought she had an excellent heart, and was really attached to her dog;
but as soon as he was cured, and she found he had lost an eye, and had
no hair on his back, she could not bear the sight of him. Fido was
beaten out of the hall, obliged to look for bones, and sleep in a
corner, on the stairs; and at last, if Paulina had not come in time to
save him, he would have been given up to half a dozen wicked boys, who
would have tormented him to death. Paulina was much displeased with her
cousin from this circumstance, for her character was very different from
Emily's. The little hospital she had alluded to was for her sick or lame
animals. It was composed of a dog, whose paw had been broken; a cat,
whose ear had been bitten off, by a great rat which it had caught, and a
blind squirrel. Beside these, she had in a cage a little sparrow, whose
wings had been broken by a bird of prey; and as it could not fly to the
bottom of its cage for water, or food, she made a little ladder for it,
so it could jump up and down when it pleased. She had besides a thrush,
which had been almost frozen to death, and never recovered the use of
its feet: but it did not sing the less gayly, though a cripple.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

She had also a pet rabbit, which she had saved from the torments of two
cruel boys, who had caught it, and whom she overheard re