reath, gaze at the cat. . . . They are surprised,
impressed, and do not hear nurse grumbling as she pursues them. The
most genuine delight shines in the eyes of both.

Domestic animals play a scarcely noticed but undoubtedly beneficial
part in the education and life of children. Which of us does not
remember powerful but magnanimous dogs, lazy lapdogs, birds dying
in captivity, dull-witted but haughty turkeys, mild old tabby cats,
who forgave us when we trod on their tails for fun and caused them
agonising pain? I even fancy, sometimes, that the patience, the
fidelity, the readiness to forgive, and the sincerity which are
characteristic of our domestic animals have a far stronger and more
definite effect on the mind of a child than the long exhortations
of some dry, pale Karl Karlovitch, or the misty expositions of a
governess, trying to prove to children that water is made up of
hydrogen and oxygen.

"What little things!" says Nina, opening her eyes wide and going
off into a joyous laugh. "They are like mice!"

"One, two, three," Vanya counts. "Three kittens. So there is one
for you, one for me, and one for somebody else, too."

"Murrm . . . murrm . . ." purrs the mother, flattered by their
attention. "Murrm."

After gazing at the kittens, the children take them from under the
cat, and begin squeezing them in their hands, then, not satisfied
with this, they put them in the skirts of their nightgowns, and run
into the other rooms.

"Mamma, the cat has got pups!" they shout.

Mamma is sitting in the drawing-room with some unknown gentleman.
Seeing the children unwashed, undressed, with their nightgowns held
up high, she is embarrassed, and looks at them severely.

"Let your nightgowns down, disgraceful children," she says. "Go out
of the room, or I will punish you."

But the children do not notice either mamma's threats or the presence
of a stranger. They put the kittens down on the carpet, and go off
into deafening squeals. The mother walks round them, mewing
imploringly. When, a little afterwards, the children are dragged
off to the nursery, dressed, made to say their prayers, and given
their breakfast, they are full of a passionate desire to get away
from these prosaic duties as quickly as possible, and to run to the
kitchen again.

Their habitual pursuits and games are thrown completely into the
background.

The kittens throw everything into the shade by making their appearance
in the world, and suppl