tween every two or three
mouthfuls, to make sure that she was not taking a liberty. But meeting
with nothing but encouragement, she finished her repast with great
satisfaction, and we both laid ourselves down by the kitchen-fire, as
if we had been friends all our lives.

"Well to be sure!" exclaimed the gardener's wife again. It was her
favourite phrase; she seemed never to tire of it, and to have little
else to say; but I understood what she meant, and took a comfortable nap
in consequence.

By and by came dinner, and a pleasant little meal it was. Instead of
flying at the kitten for presuming to eat at all, I quite enjoyed having
a companion. My platter stood, as usual, in the yard, and Pussy's in a
corner of the kitchen; but by mutual consent we began dragging our
respective bones along the ground to eat in company; and the gardener's
wife seeing the proceeding, carried our plates for us, and placed them
side by side outside the door, and we finished our meal in the most
sociable manner.

Times were now altered: but I need not give a detailed account of every
day. The good understanding between Pussy and me continued to increase,
till it ripened into the warmest friendship. Uncongenial companion as
she appeared, I grew by degrees fonder of her than I had ever been of
any of my own tribe; and although our habits were by nature totally
dissimilar, we learned to understand, and even to take pleasure in
accommodating ourselves to each other's little peculiarities.

I confess this was not done in a moment. At first I certainly was
occasionally annoyed by Pussy's inconsistencies. She would profess to be
so refined, that a speck of dirt on her white coat made her unhappy; so
delicate, that she could not endure to wet her feet; so modest, that she
could not bear to be looked at while she was eating; while at the same
time she would scamper into the dirtiest hole after a mouse, and then
devour the nasty vermin with a satisfaction quite disgusting to a
well-bred sporting dog like myself.

I wished to educate her in the sentiments and habits of my own nobler
race, but I found it a hopeless task. If I took her out for a walk, and
tried to impress her with the pleasure of a good healthy swim in the
pond, she listened politely; but in spite of all my arguments, when we
arrived at the water's edge, and I plunged in, she never could be
induced to follow; there she stood, mewing and shivering on the brink,
not daring even to we