the deer for me?' asked the boy-brother, springing up.

'Well, no,' replied the man-brother. 'The fact is, that I did not get up
to them till we had run half way across the world and left the wind
far behind us. Think what a trouble it would have been to drag it here!
So--I just ate them both.'

The cat said nothing, but he did not feel that he loved his big brother.
He had thought a great deal about that deer, and had meant to get on his
back to ride him as a horse, and go to see all the wonderful places
the lion talked to him about when he was in a good temper. The more he
thought of it the more sulky he grew, and in the morning, when the lion
said that it was time for them to start to hunt, the cat told him that
he might kill the bear and snake by himself, as HE had a headache, and
would rather stay at home. The little fellow knew quite well that the
lion would not dare to go out without him and his ball for fear of
meeting a bear or a snake.

The quarrel went on, and for many days neither of the brothers spoke to
each other, and what made them still more cross was, that they could get
very little to eat, and we know that people are often cross when they
are hungry. At last it occurred to the lion that if he could only steal
the magic ball he could kill bears and snakes for himself, and then the
cat might be as sulky as he liked for anything that it would matter.
But how was the stealing to be done? The cat had the ball hung round his
neck day and night, and he was such a light sleeper that it was useless
to think of taking it while he slept. No! the only thing was to get him
to lend it of his own accord, and after some days the lion (who was not
at all clever) hit upon a plan that he thought would do.

'Dear me, how dull it is here!' said the lion one afternoon, when the
rain was pouring down in such torrents that, however sharp your eyes or
your nose might be, you could not spy a single bird or beast among the
bushes. 'Dear me, how dull, how dreadfully dull I am. Couldn't we have a
game of catch with that golden ball of yours?'

'I don't care about playing catch, it does not amuse me,' answered
the cat, who was as cross as ever; for no cat, even to this day, ever
forgets an injury done to him.

'Well, then, lend me the ball for a little, and I will play by myself,'
replied the lion, stretching out a paw as he spoke.

'You can't play in the rain, and if you did, you would only lose it in
the bushes,' said th