her. She came in
soon with a basket.

"This is what old Spot used to sleep in when he was a puppy," Mrs. Green
told Miss Kitty Cat. "I suppose you're willing to use it for your
family."

Miss Kitty made no objection when Mrs. Green carefully laid the five
kittens side by side on an old shawl which she spread in the bottom of
the basket. Then Mrs. Green picked up the precious burden and with Miss
Kitty following closely, set it down in a corner of the woodshed.

"There!" said Mrs. Green. "Now they're snug and warm. And I'll set
your milk right beside the basket, so you won't have to leave your
family when you drink it."

[Illustration: Miss Kitty Cat Guards Her Kittens.]

It was not long before old dog Spot poked his long nose though the
woodshed doorway and spied Miss Kitty Cat close beside the basket,
lapping her milk. He gave a short bark when he saw her. And to his
astonishment both Miss Kitty Cat and Farmer Green's wife came running at
him.

Mrs. Green had a broom in her hand and Miss Kitty Cat had her claws in
her paws. They both ordered him to keep away from the woodshed. And Spot
sneaked off to the barn and hid in the stall beside the old horse
Ebenezer.

"What's troubling you?" Ebenezer inquired in his slow way.

"It's that ill-natured Miss Kitty Cat," Spot exclaimed. "She has a big
family of kittens. And she's terribly touchy about anybody's coming near
them. Although she's keeping them in my basket, she hasn't even invited
me to have a look at them.... I only hope," he added, "they won't grow
up to be like their mother."

Old Ebenezer looked down at him with mild surprise.

"What's the matter with Miss Kitty?" he asked.

"She can't take a joke," said Spot. "If you chase her, she always claws
you if she can."

Now, that was one of the first things Miss Kitty taught her children.
She claimed that claws were made to be used--especially on old dog
Spot.

But when a kitten tried its claws on one of its mates Miss Kitty always
cuffed it smartly. She claimed, then, that claws were _not_ made to be
used--especially on one's own family.

And in time the kittens learned their lessons perfectly.

THE END

SLUMBER-TOWN TALES
(Trademark Registered.)
By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY
AUTHOR OF THE
SLEEPY-TIME TALES and TUCK-ME-IN TALES

Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH

These are fascinating stories of farmyard folk for boys and girls fr