with one paw raised, ready to fly
at the first sign of danger, as with trembling fingers Ruth managed to
break a piece off the horny surface. She held it out. The cat came
nearer, sniffed at it suspiciously, and then to her great joy took the
morsel, crouched down, and munched it up. "How good it must taste," she
thought, "after the mice and rats."

By degrees it was induced to make further advances, and before long to
come on to the step where Ruth sat, and make a hearty meal of the bun
which she crumbled up for it.

"I'm afraid it's dry," she said; "but I couldn't bring any milk, you
know, and you must get some water afterwards."

The cat seemed to understand, and replied by pushing its head against
her, and purred loudly. How thin it was! Ruth wondered as she looked
gravely at it whether it would soon be fatter if she fed it every day.
She became so interested in talking to it, and watching its behaviour,
that she nearly forgot she had to go into the dining-room, and jumped up
with a start.

"Good-night," she said. "If you'll come again I'll bring you something
else another day." She looked back as she turned the handle of the heavy
door. The cat was sitting primly upright on the step washing its face
after its meal. "I expect it doesn't feel so hungry now," thought Ruth
as she went into the room.

The acquaintance thus fairly begun was soon followed by other meetings,
and the cat was often in the hall when Ruth came downstairs, though it
did not appear every evening. The uncertainty of this was most exciting,
and "Will it be there to-night?" was her frequent thought during the
day. As time went on, and they grew to know each other better, she began
to find the kitchen cat a far superior companion to either her dolls or
the man in the picture. True, it could not answer her any more than they
did--in words, but it had a language of its own which she understood
perfectly. She knew when it was pleased, and when it said "Thank you"
for some delicacy she brought for it; its yellow eyes beamed with
sympathy and interest when she described the delights of that beautiful
life it would enjoy in the nursery; and when she pitied it for the
darkness of its present dwelling below, she knew it understood by the
way it rubbed against her and arched up its back. There were many more
pleasures in each day now that she had made this acquaintance. Shopping
became interesting, because she could look forward to the cat's surprise
a