reached the barn. Duke was frightened too, because we shouted
at him.

Mamie is thirteen, but is more afraid to ride than Winnie, who is only
seven. Mamie asks if boys always ride better than girls. I say, "No!
Look at Winnie." Once we tied Duke to the swing; and then he got his
nose pulled by getting the rope twisted round it. Sometimes we have a
good frolic with him in the pasture. He never kicks us.

Mamie loves to feed Duke; but she wants Arthur to hold him carefully by
the bridle while she does it. As for Winnie, she loves to gallop over
the hills and far away. Sometimes she lets me ride behind her. Duke
seems to love the bold Winnie, and will do whatever she tells him to.

TILDEN.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

NELLY'S KITTEN.

NELLY'S kitten was the handsomest kitten that ever was. So her little
mistress thought. Nelly made a great pet of her, and brought her up with
great care; and, when she had become a well-grown cat, Nelly gave her
the name of "Pussy Gray."

One morning while Nelly was being dressed, her sister told her there was
something nice down stairs, and asked her to guess what it was. "I guess
it's pickled limes," said Nelly; for she dearly loved pickled limes. But
her sister said "No."--"Then I guess it's kittens," said Nelly; and so
it was.

Out in the back-room, in a barrel of shavings, were two little bunches
of fur; and, when Nelly took them out and put them on the floor, they
looked as though they were all legs and mouths. Their eyes were shut
tight, and their little pink mouths were wide open.

But, in a week or two, the eyes came open, and the little kitties saw
their feet and tails for the first time. Then they stood upon their
feet, and played with their tails till they found their mother had one
that was bigger and longer; and then they played with their mother's
tail whenever she forgot to tuck it away and put her paw on it.

The kittens were always in somebody's way. When Nelly's mamma sat down
in the big rocking-chair for a little rest, the first time she rocked
back, "Mew, mew, mew!" would be heard, and away would scamper a little
kit.

When Nelly's sister walked across the room in the dark, she was sure to
hit her foot against a little soft ball, and "Oh, dear! there's one of
the kittens," she would say.

If mamma went out to work in the kitchen, there would be a scampering
from under her feet; and the kittens