Edith Nesbit

Pussy and Doggy Tales Edith Nesbit

"TELL us a story, mother," said the youngest kitten but three. "You've heard all my stories," said the mother cat, sleepily turning over in the hay. "Then make a new one," said the youngest kitten, so pertly that Mrs. Buff boxed her ears at once-but she laughed too. Did you ever hear a cat laugh? People say that cats often have occasion to do it. "I do know one story," she said; "but I'm not sure that it's true, though it was told me by a most respectable brindled gentleman, a great friend of my dear mother's. He said he was a second cousin twenty-nine times removed of Mrs. Tabby White, the lady the story is about." "Oh, do tell it," said all the kittens, sitting up very straight and looking at their mother with green anxious eyes. "Very well," she said kindly; "only if you interrupt I shall leave off." So there was silence in the barn, except for Mrs. Buff's voice and the soft sound of pleased purring which the kittens made as they listened to the enchanting tale.