y for you to tell us this afternoon--the story of the barn-cat that
wanted so much to become a house-cat. Don't you remember that story you
used to tell us long ago?"

"Oh, yes!" Mollie said; "her name was Furry-Purry, and she lived with
Granny Barebones, and there was Tom--Tom--some thing; what _was_ his
name? Tell us that, Aunt Ruth, do!"

"Isn't it open to the objection you made to Mollie's choice a while ago,
Susie?" she asked. "I remember it went with 'The Three Bears' and 'Old
Mother Pig' and 'The Little Red Hen.'"

"No, Auntie, I think not; it's different, somehow."

"Very well, then, if you are sure you haven't outgrown it."

"Is it a true story?" Nellie Dimock wanted to know.

"It is made out of a true story, Nellie. A young cat which was born and
brought up in a barn became dissatisfied with her condition in life, and
made up her mind to change it. She chose the house of a friend of mine
for her future home, and presented herself every morning at the door,
asking in a very earnest and humble way to be taken in. When driven away
she went sadly and reluctantly, but in a few moments was back again
waiting patiently, quietly, hour after hour, day after day. If noticed
or spoken to, she gave a plaintive mew, looked cold and hungry, but
showed no signs of discouragement. She didn't once try to steal into the
house, as she might have done, but waited patiently for an invitation.

"And when one morning she brought a mouse and laid it on the door-step,
and looking up, seemed to say: 'Kind lady, if you will take me for your
cat, see what I will do for you,' my friend could no longer refuse. The
door was opened, the long-wished-for invitation was given, and very
soon the little barn-cat became the pet and plaything of the family. She
proved a valuable family cat, and her descendants, to the fourth
generation, are living in my friend's family to-day.

"Out of these materials I have dressed up the story of

HOW FURRY-PURRY BECAME GOLD ELSIE.

"The door of the great house stood open and Furry-Purry looked in.

"Furry-Purry was a small yellow cat striped down the back with a darker
shade of the same color. Her paws, the lower part of her body, and the
spot on her breast were white.

"This is what the little cat saw, looking through the open door into the
great house:--

"A pleasant room hung with pictures, the floor covered with a soft
carpet, where all kinds of bright-colored flowers seemed to be growing,
and