V SPOTS AND SPECKLES
VI BEECHNUT SHUCKS
VII TWO IN A TREE
VIII NINE LIVES
IX THE STOLEN CREAM
X A CREAMY FACE
XI THE WRENS' HOME
XII JOLLY ROBIN'S NEWS
XIII AN UNWELCOME GUEST
XIV CATCALLS
XV MOUSETRAPS
XVI A MIDNIGHT MEAL
XVII THE EAVESDROPPER
XVIII KIDNAPPED
XX STRANGE QUARTERS
XXI A LONG JOURNEY
XXII IN THE PANTRY
XXIV THE FLOUR BARREL
XXV A SECRET
XXIV FIVE IN A BASKET

ILLUSTRATIONS

MISS KITTY CAT CHASED OLD DOG SPOT
_Frontispiece_

MISS KITTY CAT LOOKED CALMLY AT RUSTY WREN

MISS KITTY CAT SEES MOSES MOUSE
BALANCE A BIT OF CHEESE ON HIS NOSE

MISS KITTY CAT GUARDS HER KITTENS

THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

I

A TERRIBLE PERSON

THE rats and the mice thought that Miss Kitty Cat was a terrible person.
She was altogether too fond of hunting them. They agreed, however, that
in one way it was pleasant to have her about the farmhouse. When she
washed her face, while sitting on the doorsteps, they knew--so they
said!--that it was going to rain. And then Mrs. Rat never would let her
husband leave home without taking his umbrella.

As a rule Miss Kitty Cat didn't look at all frightful. Almost always she
appeared quite unruffled, going about her business in a quiet way and
making no fuss over anything. Of course when old dog Spot chased--and
cornered--her, she was quite a different sort of creature. Then she
arched her back, puffed her tail out to twice its usual size, and spat
fiercely at Spot. He learned not to get within reach of her sharp claws,
when she behaved in that fashion. For old Spot had a tender nose. And no
one knew it better than Miss Kitty Cat.

Around the farmhouse she was politeness itself--when there was anybody
to observe her. If her meals were late she never clamored, as Johnnie
Green sometimes did. To be sure, she might remind Mrs. Green gently, by
plaintive mewing, that she had not had her saucer of milk. But she was
always careful not to be rude about it. And though Miss Kitty liked a
warm place in winter, she never crowded anybody else away from the fire.
She crept under the kitchen range, where no one else cared to sit. And
there she would doze by the hour--especially after she had enjoyed a
hearty meal.

On summer nights, however, when she loved to hunt out of doors, Miss
Kitty Cat was far from appearing