, for there were none in that land.
The king had never seen one either; and his queen did not know what
sort of beast puss was at all. But she thought her very pretty.

10. "What is this strange, useful creature; what is it called?" said
the king, "and where did you get it? I will give all I have to buy it
from you, rather than be left without one."

11. But though the king sent for a great sack of gold, so heavy that it
took three men to bring it into the room, Dick would not hear of
selling his friend.

12. "What is that bundle under your arm?" said the captain to Dick. And
then the boy showed him the kittens.

13. "Why these are even more pretty than the beast itself," said the
queen, and she wished to have all the kittens in her lap. Poor woman!
she had never before nursed a kitten in her life!

14. "You had better sell these to the king," the captain said in a
whisper to Dick. "Tell him that some day they will grow up to be cats
like yours, and in due time will have little ones of their own."

15. "But it would be cruel to take them all away from their mother,"
said Dick, for he had seen how quickly his cat had run to the queen to
beg for her little ones.

[Illustration: THE KING AND THE QUEEN.]

16. The cat was not afraid to stare even into the face of a king, and
ask him bravely to put down the little kit which he had taken into his
royal hands.

17. Puss had at last taken all her treasures to a mat near the door,
where she was busy washing their faces. She did not care to have so
many folks pulling them about.

18. "You must leave one for the mother, and sell the rest," said the
captain. "She will not fret long if you leave her one child. And we
cannot take them all five back on the ship. There would be too many."

* * * * *

_Write:_ Dick found that his cat had five little kits. He took them
with him to the house of the king. The queen was pleased; she had never
seen a kitten before.

Questions: 1. What was Dick surprised to find when he took
up his cat? 2. Where did she try to lead him? 3. What had
puss got in a corner? 4. How did Dick manage to bring the
kittens to the palace? 5. What did his cat do when she got
there? 6. What did the queen wish?

7. THE END OF PUSSY.

1. "But I should like them to stay little always," said the queen,
after she had been told that the kittens would soon grow big enough to
catch mice.

2. "That is a