t for granted that it had all been taken out and put
away upstairs, with the andirons and the carpets, for next winter. I
knew that there was no time to be lost if I meant to catch that robin,
so I ran with all my might and tried to jump through. Oh, my dear Helen,
I do not believe you ever had such a bump: I fell back nearly into the
middle of the room; and it seemed to me that I turned completely over at
least six times. The blood streamed out of my nose, and I cut my right
ear very badly against one of the castors of the table. I could not see
nor hear any thing for some minutes. When I came to myself, I found your
dear mother holding me, and wiping my face with her own nice
handkerchief wet in cold water. My right fore-paw was badly bruised, and
that troubles me very much about washing my face, and about writing. But
the worst of all is the condition of my nose. Everybody laughs who sees
me, and I do not blame them; it is twice as large as it used to be, and
I begin to be seriously afraid it will never return to its old shape.
This will be a dreadful affliction: for who does not know that the nose
is the chief beauty of a cat's face? I have got very tired of hearing
the story of my fall told to all the people who come in. They laugh as
if they would kill themselves at it, especially when I do not manage to
get under the table before they look to see how my nose is.

Except for this I should have written to you before, and would write
more now, but my paw aches badly, and one of my eyes is nearly closed
from the swelling of my nose: so I must say good-by.

Your affectionate Pussy.

P. S. I told you about Caesar, did I not, in my last letter? Of course I
do not venture out of the house in my present plight, so I have not seen
him except from the window.

[Illustration: "Can you imagine how ashamed I felt? I ran under the
table and did not come out again until after Mrs. Hitchcock had
gone."--Page 54.]

[Illustration: "I knew that there was no time to be lost if I meant
to catch that robin, so I ran with all my might and tried to jump
through."--Page 55.]

V.

My Dear Helen:

I am sure you must have wondered why I have not written to you for the
last two weeks, but when you hear what I have been through, you will
only wonder that I am alive to write to you at all. I was very glad to
hear your mother say, yesterday, that she had not written to you about
what had happe