ry
lively. She walked around the piled-up rubbish, cast curious glances on
far-away Canary-birds in cages that hung from high windows; she peeped
over fences, discovered a large Dog, got quietly down again, and
presently finding a sheltered place in full sunlight, she lay down and
slept for an hour. A slight 'sniff' awakened her, and before her stood
a large Black Cat with glowing green eyes, and the thick neck and
square jaws that distinguish the Tom; a scar marked his cheek, and his
left ear was torn. His look was far from friendly; his ears moved
backward a little, his tail twitched, and a faint, deep sound came from
his throat. The Kitten innocently walked toward him. She did not
remember him. He rubbed the sides of his jaws on a post, and quietly,
slowly turned and disappeared. The last that she saw of him was the end
of his tail twitching from side to side; and the little Slummer had no
idea that she had been as near death to-day, as she had been when she
ventured into the fox-cage.

As night came on the Kitten began to feel hungry. She examined
carefully the long invisible colored stream that the wind is made of.
She selected the most interesting of its strands, and, nose-led,
followed. In the corner of the iron-yard was a box of garbage. Among
this she found something that answered fairly well for food; a bucket
of water under a faucet offered a chance to quench her thirst.

The night was spent chiefly in prowling about and learning the main
lines of the iron-yard. The next day she passed as before, sleeping in
the sun. Thus the time wore on. Sometimes she found a good meal at the
garbage-box, sometimes there was nothing. Once she found the big Black
Tom there, but discreetly withdrew before he saw her. The water-bucket
was usually at its place, or, failing that, there were some muddy
little pools on the stone below. But the garbage-box was very
unreliable. Once it left her for three days without food. She searched
along the high fence, and seeing a small hole, crawled through that and
found herself in the open street. This was a new world, but before she
had ventured far, there was a noisy, rumbling rush--a large Dog came
bounding, and Kitty had barely time to run back into the hole in the
fence. She was dreadfully hungry, and glad to find some old
potato-peelings, which gave a little respite from the hunger-pang. In
the morning she did not sleep, but prowled for food. Some Sparrows
chirruped in the yard. The