Puss
left the place where she was lying, marched up to the child, and gave
her such a smart blow with her paw as to draw blood. Then she walked
back, with the greatest composure and gravity, as if satisfied with
having punished the child for crying, and with the hope of indulging in
a comfortable nap. No doubt she had often seen the child punished in
this manner for peevishness; and as there was no one near who seemed
disposed to administer correction in this instance, Puss determined to
take the law into her own hand.
This story brings to my mind one which I saw in a newspaper the other
day, about a cat who took it upon her to punish her children in a very
singular manner. The story runs thus: "One Sabbath, a motherly old cat,
belonging to one of our citizens, left her little family in quiet
repose, while she went forth in pursuit of something to eat. On
returning, she found them quarreling. She then very deliberately took
the one most eagerly engaged in the combat by the nape of the neck, and
not seeing any convenient place near by to administer what she
considered a salutary reproof, went to a tub of water, upon the edge of
which she raised her feet, and dropped the kitten into the water. She
resisted all attempts at escape, and after repeatedly sousing it in the
water till sufficiently punished, she took it again by the neck as
before, and carried it back again, doubtless a thorough repentant for
the wrong it had done.
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