m
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 WILLIAM P. WREDHJ

 
 THE DOVE SERIES. 
 
 LITTLE ANIMALS 
 
 DESCRIBED 
 
 FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF " TRUE BTOBIE9 FOB LITTLE PEOPLE.' 
 
 WITH FOUR ENGRAVINGS 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 SHELDON AND COMPANY. 
 
 BOSTON : GOULD AND LINCOLN. 
 
 1870.
 
 THE DOVE SERIES, 
 
 IN LARGE TTPE, WILL EMBBACB 
 
 THE DOVE, AND OTHER STORIES, 
 GREAT THINGS DONE BY LITTLE PEOPLE, 
 LITTLE LILLA; OR, THE WAY TO BE HAPPY. 
 LITTLE ANIMALS DESCRIBED FOR LITTLE PEOPLE, 
 LITTLE FACTS FOR LITTLE PEOPLE, 
 TRUE STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE.
 
 7f/ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 p 
 
 RATS 
 
 - 20 
 
 j 
 
 BATS 
 
 - 51 
 
 \ 
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS CODSIX 
 
 - 88 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS - - - 147
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 DID you ever think how all things in this 
 beautiful world of ours speak to us of God, of 
 his greatness, of his power, of his wisdom, 
 of his knowledge, and of his love? When 
 you see the high hills, the taljl trees, and the 
 rolling, roaring sea, do you not feel very sol- 
 emn, and think how great He must be who 
 made all these things ? Do you not wonder 
 at his power, and wish you could understand 
 more about it ? , 
 
 I am sure you must have often done so; 
 and when you see that the ground is all dry 
 and hard, and the plants all withering in the 
 hot sun, and that then just when it is so much 
 wanted the rain begins to fall, and everything
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 once more looks fresh and green ; you see in 
 this His wisdom and love in providing food 
 for all His creatures. I think you must have 
 often noticed these things ; or, if you have not, 
 I am sure you must be one of those little peo- 
 ple who, though they certainly have got. eyes, 
 yet do not seem to know how to use them. 
 There are many such little folks in the world, 
 and it is not impossible that some of them 
 may read this book. If they do I hope they 
 will find out that one very good way of 
 using their eyes is in looking round on the 
 little animals God has made, and trying to 
 find out some of the wonderful and curious 
 things about them. Seeing the beautiful and 
 perfect way each little creature is made will 
 teach you something about God, about his wis- 
 dom and love ; it will teach you that he whose 
 power is so great that he can build up moun- 
 tains, can make the thunders roar and the
 
 INTRODUCTION. T 
 
 lightnings flash, and, when it pleases him, can 
 still them with a word; that he who is so 
 great, so mighty, has taken as much pains to 
 make the little squirrel fit for the life it is to 
 lead, or to prepare the tiny mouse for its work, 
 as if they were the most important creatures 
 in the world. 
 
 Yes, everything that God does, he does 
 beautifully ; and it is that you may see and 
 'admire his works that I want you to open 
 your eyes very wide and look about you. 
 And then, besides learning from little animals 
 the love and wisdom of their Creator, we may 
 learn many other lessons from them as well. 
 The Bible tells us to " go to the ant and con- 
 sider her ways " ; to see how industrious she 
 is, and how, though she is a feeble little crea- 
 ture, she lays up food in the summer-time to 
 be ready for the winter, when she knows she 
 shall not be able to find any.
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 That is one reason why we should watch 
 the ways and habits of God's tiny creatures ; 
 but there is another still. 
 
 I sometimes see little children who seem to 
 think that the life of a little insect, of a but- 
 terfly, or a moth, for instance, is of no conse- 
 quence ; that it does not signify at all whether 
 we hurt or kill them, or what we do to them. 
 Perhaps they think such little creatures can- 
 not feel ; if so, they are very much mistaken. 
 These tiny, delicate things are very tender, 
 and very easily frightened ; and if you knock 
 them down or catch them suddenly in your 
 hand you have no idea how much pain you 
 may give them. Now, it is God's command 
 that we should be tender-hearted and kind 
 one to another ; and I am sure that little chil- 
 dren that are really kind and tender-hearted to 
 each other will not be cruel and hard-hearted 
 to God's little creatures.
 
 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 LITTLE MICE. 
 
 SPHERE is a little verse in 
 ^ the Bible that I am very 
 fond of, and I should like 
 you to look for it and read it. 
 It is in the twelfth chapter of 
 St. Luke, and the sixth verse. 
 I daresay you have read it 
 before, but perhaps you have 
 never thought much about it ; 
 so now I will tell you w r hy I
 
 10 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 like it so much, and then I 
 think you will like it too. 
 
 It tells us that though we 
 think the little sparrows that 
 fly about us every day such 
 worthless things, that though 
 we take so little notice of them, 
 yet God never forgets even one 
 of them. He knows all about 
 every little sparrow in the 
 world; he knows where they 
 live and everything they do, 
 how long they have been in 
 the world, and when they will 
 die ; and he not only knows all 
 about them, but he thinks about 
 them too. He gives them the
 
 LITTLE MICE. 11 
 
 food they want, and has taught 
 them how to build their little 
 nests, and how to take care of 
 their little ones. 
 
 Now I think it is so nice to 
 know that the great God who 
 made the world, and all that is 
 in it the great sea, the high 
 mountains, and the beautiful 
 rivers and valleys that he is 
 so kind and so loving, that he 
 thinks about the tiniest crea- 
 tures he has made, and cares 
 for them as much as he does for 
 the immense elephants, whales, 
 or any of those great creatures 
 that astonish you so much.
 
 12 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 And the more we know of the 
 little animals that we see 
 around us, the more we shall 
 wonder at the beautiful way in 
 which they are made, and the 
 more we shall see how good 
 and kind that God must be who 
 has created them each for some 
 particular purpose and end. 
 
 There is one little tiny ani- 
 mal that you must all have 
 seen, for he lives in our own 
 country, and runs about in the 
 houses, in the meadows, in the 
 cornfields, and in the woods. 
 You know what I mean, I dare- 
 say : it is the little mouse.
 
 LITTLE MICE. 13 
 
 We will talk about it first, be- 
 cause you know more about it 
 than you do about some of the 
 other little animals. But, per- 
 haps, you have not all seen the 
 smallest and prettiest kind of 
 mouse there is. It is the one 
 that lives in the cornfields, and 
 builds its little house among' 
 the corn. It is a dear little 
 fellow, all brown except its 
 breast, which is white ; but if 
 you want to see it you will 
 have to be very sharp and keep 
 your eyes very wide open, for 
 it is a timid little thing, and 
 would be sure to run away and
 
 14 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hide itself if it saw you looking 
 at it. 
 
 The harvest-mouse, as it is 
 called, lives on corn chiefly ; 
 but it is very fond of insects 
 for a change, especially flies, 
 which it eats very greedily. 
 
 This little creature has some- 
 times a very large family of 
 little ones ; sometimes it has 
 as many as eight little baby 
 mice to take care of; but I am 
 sorry to say she is not always 
 very kind to them. 
 
 A gentleman who was very 
 fond of watching little animals, 
 had once a little mouse given
 
 LITTLE MICE. 15 
 
 to him, and in order that he 
 might keep it safely, he had a 
 little cage made for it. In a 
 few days his mouse had eight lit- 
 tle children nice little things 
 she thought them, I daresay, 
 though perhaps you would not, 
 for they had no soft hair like 
 their mother, nor bright eyes 
 like hers, but were quite blind 
 when they were first born. At 
 first the old mouse seemed very 
 fond of the little tiny creatures, 
 but she soon got tired of them, 
 and then what do you think 
 the naughty mother did ? She 
 really began to kill her little
 
 16 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 children : was it not cruel ? 
 So the gentleman took them 
 away from her, for if she did 
 not love her little ones, she did 
 not deserve to have them at all. 
 
 Perhaps you think that when 
 she found they were taken 
 away she would be very sorry 
 she had been so cruel, and would 
 want to have them back again. 
 Oh no ; she soon forgot all 
 about them, and was very hap- 
 py, climbing about her cage, 
 and hanging by her tail from 
 one of the wires. 
 
 She had a piece of flannel for 
 her bed, and some grass, which
 
 LITTLE MICE. IT 
 
 she arranged very cleverly be- 
 tween the folds of her flannel so 
 as to make it soft and quite 
 comfortable, like a feather bed ; 
 and then, when she had put 
 her house to rights, she seemed 
 quite happy and contented. 
 
 I will not tell you any more 
 stories about their bad habits 
 and their naughty tricks, such 
 as eating each other when they 
 are hungry and cannot find any 
 food ; I think it is much nicer 
 to find out something about 
 their busy and industrious ways 
 of gathering together food for 
 
 the winter. 
 2
 
 18 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 The little mice you see in 
 the house are not obliged to 
 lay up any stores for the win- 
 ter, for they live on crumbs 
 and the good things they find 
 in the store-room when every- 
 body has gone to bed, and they 
 can venture out to look for it ; 
 but the other mice, which live 
 in the fields, know that when 
 the fcnow is on the ground and 
 the cold weather has come, 
 they will not find any corn or 
 berries for food, and that unless 
 they wish to die of hunger in 
 the winter, they must get some 
 while they can find it, arid keep
 
 I LITTLE MICE. 19 
 
 it till they want it. You see 
 they are prudent little animals ; 
 but did you ever think how it 
 is that the little mouse knows 
 that it must do thi$ ? It is God 
 that puts it into the little crea- 
 ture's head ; it is the great 
 God who says in the Bible that 
 not even a single sparrow can 
 fall to the ground unless he 
 wills it ; it is he who gives to 
 the little mouse the food it 
 wants, and teaches it to keep 
 it for the winter. 
 
 If you live in the country, 
 and are near any cornfields, you 
 should see if you cannot dis-
 
 20 LITTLE ANIMALS. ! , 
 
 cover any of the nests of the 
 little harvest-mouse, and then 
 you can watch it gathering to- 
 gether the grains of corn, and 
 carrying them off home and 
 heaping them up in its little 
 store-room ; I am sure if you 
 did so you would be very much 
 astonished to see what a deal 
 of work it gets through, just 
 because it never says, " I can't," 
 that silly word that little chil- 
 dren are so fond of using, and 
 that so often means, "I don't 
 intend to try." 
 
 Perhaps you will say mousie 
 never has such difficult things
 
 LITTLE MICE. 21 
 
 to do as you have. Wait a 
 minute : I am not sure of that. 
 There are some little mice 
 living in Iceland that are 
 obliged, like the harvest-mouse, 
 to store up food for the win- 
 ter time ; and the food which 
 they collect is not very easily 
 found. It is a kind of a berry 
 which does not grow every- 
 where ; and sometimes to get 
 enough they have to swim 
 across wide rivers and take very 
 long journeys. It is quite easy 
 for them to swim across these 
 rivers when they have nothing 
 to carry; but when they are
 
 22 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 going to return home, and have 
 all their berries to bring with 
 them, what are they to do then? 
 I am sure if the mice asked me 
 what they had better do, I do 
 not think I could tell them. 
 But they do not need to ask 
 any one ; they soon make up 
 their minds what to do. 
 
 A number of them, perhaps 
 seven or eight, choose a flat 
 piece of dry earth, on which 
 they pile all their berries, mak- 
 ing a high heap of them. Then 
 they bring their dish down to 
 the river, pushing it with all 
 their might right into the wa-
 
 LITTLE MICE. 23 
 
 ': 
 
 ter, and when it is afloat they 
 all get on, sitting in. a circle 
 round the heap of berries, with 
 their tails hanging into the 
 water, and these they move so 
 as to guide their funny boat 
 across the river. 
 
 Would you ever have thought 
 of such a capital plan ? No, I 
 am sure you would not. But 
 I do not think the mice would 
 ever have been able to do such 
 a clever thing if they had not 
 been very patient and very 
 persevering. 
 
 Suppose you take these little 
 creatures for a pattern, and try
 
 24 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 in everything you do to be as 
 hardworking, industrious, ,and 
 patient as they are. Shall I 
 tell you how you can do this ? 
 I think there are many ways. 
 Sometimes a little person gets 
 out of bed in the morning, and 
 w r ants to be dressed very quick- 
 ly, and then nurse says he 
 must wait, because she is dress- 
 ing little brother or sister. But 
 somehow or other it is very 
 hard to wait. Then think how 
 often the little mouse has to be 
 patient, and try to be so too ; 
 or, if it should happen that a 
 lesson is very hard and long,
 
 LITTLE MICE. 25 
 
 remember the little Iceland 
 mice, and how hard they work 
 to feed their little ones; and 
 never let it be said that these 
 tiny creatures are more indus- 
 trious and patient than you 
 are.
 
 RATS. 
 
 )N our last chapter I told you 
 something about a very tiny 
 animal, the little mouse, 
 and in this I think you shall 
 hear a little about a creature 
 which is something like it, 
 though much larger, the Eat, 
 It is not a very pretty animal, 
 is it? Few children are very 
 fond of either rats or mice, and 
 sometimes they are very much 
 afraid of them. 
 
 But, perhaps, when you have
 
 RATS. 27 
 
 heard something about them 
 you may change your mind, 
 and begin to take an interest 
 in them. I hope you will, for 
 if you do, I should not be at all 
 surprised if you were to find 
 out something very curious and 
 interesting about them. You 
 would never think that a crea- 
 ture like a rat could have any- 
 thing like sense, would you ? 
 It does not look as if it had 
 much, and yet God has given 
 to this little animal a great 
 deal of cleverness, so that it 
 finds out all sorts of odd ways 
 to get at anything it wants,
 
 28 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 and seems quite as quick and 
 wise, perhaps quicker and wis- 
 er than some little people I 
 know. 
 
 Shall I tell you of a funny 
 trick some clever rats played 
 an old lady once upon a time ? 
 This old lady had put away in 
 her store-room some bottles of 
 sweet oil, which were packed 
 up in a large box, each one be- 
 ing neatly covered up and fas- 
 tened. For some time no one 
 wanted these bottles, and no one 
 thought about them ; but one 
 day a servant was sent to fetch 
 one, and then she found well,
 
 RATS. 29 
 
 what do you think she found? 
 Why, ,she found that the bot- 
 tles were all uncovered and a 
 great deal of the oil was gone. 
 And who do you think had ta- 
 ken it? Some naughty rats 
 had found out that oil was 
 very nice, and thinking, I sup- 
 pose, that if they could get at 
 it they might have it, they had 
 helped themselves without ask- 
 ing anybody's leave. And now 
 how do you think they got at 
 it? They could not lift the 
 bottles up and drink it as you 
 would do, and they could not 
 put their noses into them, be-
 
 30 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 cause the necks were too nar- 
 row. I expect you would have 
 said that it was of no use try- 
 ing to get the oil then; but 
 perhaps these rats knew the 
 song, " Try, try, try again," and. . 
 were determined not to give up 
 so easily. 
 
 One by one they climbed up, 
 and letting their long tails fall 
 into the oil, they drew them 
 gut and let the others suck 
 them, so each got a turn and a 
 share of the feast. Were they 
 not clever rats? Should you 
 ever have thought of such a 
 funny plan ?
 
 RATS. 31 
 
 Now, perhaps you do not 
 know that rats do not always 
 stay in one place : sometimes 
 they move, and find a new 
 home for themselves in a new 
 place; and sometimes a great 
 many of them make up their 
 minds to go at once I suppose 
 because they are sociable, and 
 like being together. 
 
 It happened one evening that 
 a gentleman was out walking 
 in the meadows, when he met 
 a company of rats all going 
 in one direction. Now, as he 
 knew a great deal about all 
 kinds of little animals, and rats
 
 32 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 among the number, he soon 
 guessed what they were doing, 
 leaving their old home, and 
 going to seek another some- 
 where else, and so he watched 
 them. 
 
 In the middle of the crowd 
 of rats he saw one poor old fel- 
 low that seemed quite blind 
 and walked very slowly ; but 
 that was no reason why he 
 should be left behind ; and so 
 when he looked a little clos- 
 er, he found that one of its 
 friends was leading the poor 
 old rat along by a piece of wood 
 which they held between them
 
 RATS. 33 
 
 in their mouths, and his guide 
 took as much care of him as 
 you would of your papa if he 
 were blind. 
 
 I think this shows us that 
 even these little creatures, 
 though they are sometimes 
 fierce and cruel, can love each 
 other very much ; and that 
 they try to show their love 
 in much the same way as we 
 do, by helping each other in 
 their difficulties and troubles, 
 for even rats have their trou- 
 bles, and very great they seem 
 sometimes, I have no doubt. 
 
 An omnibus driver once found
 
 34 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 a little rat in very great trou- 
 ble, arid squeaking most pite- 
 ously. What do you think was 
 the matter ? Why, just this : 
 his mamma had put him to bed 
 in the hayloft of a stable, and 
 having tucked him up snugly, 
 she had gone out to find some 
 supper, and was a very long 
 time gone, at least so her baby 
 thought. Perhaps he was hun- 
 gry, and thought it very hard 
 to go to bed without any sup- 
 per ; at all events he began to 
 cry, and was making a very 
 dismal noise when the omnibus 
 driver found him. The man
 
 RATS. 35 
 
 thought he would take the 
 baby rat home to show his chil- 
 dren, and so the little fellow 
 was put into his great-coat 
 pocket, and went home with 
 him. He -soon grew very fond 
 of the coachman's children, and 
 became their greatest pet ; 
 they called him "Ikey," after 
 their eldest brother Isaac ; and 
 I am afraid they spoiled him 
 sadly, for he was allowed to go 
 wherever he liked, and do just 
 what he pleased. 
 
 Now, there were two things 
 that Master Ikey disliked very 
 much indeed cold and di] t.
 
 36 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 His favorite seat was on the 
 kitchen hearth, but he would 
 only go there when it was very 
 clean; and when in the even- 
 ing the room got cold, and the 
 wind blew outside, he woukl 
 lie down at full length before 
 the fire to keep himself warm, 
 and in the night he was some- 
 times very impertinent indeed, 
 for he would creep into his 
 master's bed, and lie there just 
 as comfortably as if it were his 
 own. 
 
 His master taught him many 
 funny tricks ; one was to come 
 when he called him, and to
 
 RATS. 37 
 
 jump into his coat pocket, which 
 he held open to receive him. 
 He sometimes stayed there the 
 whole day, going with his mas- 
 ter on the omnibus about Lon- 
 don ; and at other times he sat 
 in the boot of the omnibus, to 
 take care of the driver's dinner. 
 He was a good little rat, and 
 never eat it, unless it happened 
 that there was some plum-pud- 
 ding in the basket, and then it 
 was quite impossible to resist 
 the temptation; and so, when 
 his master came to look for his 
 dinner, he generally found all 
 the plums gone, and Master
 
 88 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Eat looking very guilty and 
 frightened by the side of what 
 he had left. And no wonder 
 he was frightened, for his mas- 
 ter had made a little whip on 
 purpose for him, and when he 
 did not behave properly, it was 
 brought out ; and then the lit- 
 tle fellow began to squeak most 
 piteously, and would run and 
 hide himself in the darkest cor- 
 ner he could find. 
 
 This little rat lived all his 
 life in the coachman's family, 
 and seemed very happy there, 
 and very contented. But though 
 he knew all the children very
 
 RATS. 39 
 
 well, and was never afraid of 
 any of them, he always became 
 very shy if any strangers came 
 in, and would never come out 
 of his hiding-place till they were 
 gone, however hungry he might 
 be. 
 
 When he began to grow old 
 his teeth became very bad ; and 
 the children often laughed to 
 see how distressed he was when 
 any of his food was too hard 
 for him to bite. They used to 
 give him pieces of a very hard 
 cake, made of treacle, which he 
 had always been particularly 
 fond of, just for the fun of see-
 
 40 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ing him gnawing away with 
 the few teeth he had left, now 
 giving up the task in despair, 
 and then again going at it with 
 fresh courage, not being able to 
 make up his mind to let the 
 sweet bit alone ; like some lit- 
 tle people who would rather 
 put up with a little toothache 
 than give up those dear but 
 mischievous sugar-plums. 
 
 I can tell you another story 
 of a pet rat, if you like : a very 
 cunning rat this one was. A 
 poor man, whose business it 
 was to make whips, had no- 
 ticed for a long time that some
 
 RATS. 41 
 
 of his pieces of leather disap- 
 peared in a very strange way ; 
 and especially some long strips 
 which he had cut thin, and cov- 
 ered with oil to make them 
 soft. 
 
 Now, he did not like to lose 
 his leather at all ; and he 
 watched the box where he kept 
 it very closely, to see if he could 
 find out what became of it. 
 Well, one day he was in his 
 workshop, very busy as usual, 
 when he heard a funny noise 
 in one corner, and when he 
 looked up, he saw a little hole 
 in the 'wall, and peeping out
 
 42 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 there was the head of a large 
 brown rat. It looked round 
 very carefully, but when it saw 
 the whip-maker it was afraid to 
 venture out, and ran back into 
 its hole again. The man thought 
 that now he knew who it was 
 that stole his strips of leather ; 
 and he determined to watch 
 and try and catch the mischiev- 
 ous creature. So he made a 
 kind of trap, and waited pa- 
 tiently, till after a little while 
 out came Master Eat again, 
 and ran straight to the box 
 where the pieces of leather were 
 kept : in he jumped, and was
 
 RATS. 43 
 
 soon going off with the strip he 
 had chosen, when down came 
 the door of the trap, and shut 
 him in tight. 
 
 Then the whip-maker got a 
 thick stick and lifted up the 
 door, intending to kill the little 
 thief as he was trying to make 
 his escape. But Mr. Eat was 
 very cunning, and I suppose 
 that while he was in the trap 
 he thought to himself: " Now 
 I must be very humble, and 
 try and coax that old man not 
 to kill me ; I must try and per- 
 suade him to let me live, and 
 promise not to touch his leather
 
 44 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 any more ; " and so, when the 
 door was opened, and the man 
 was holding his stick ready to 
 strike his prisoner dead, the 
 little fellow ran out quite bold- 
 ly, and went straight up the 
 whip-maker's arm, and looked 
 up in liis face so coaxingly, and 
 squeaked in such a piteous way, 
 that the man dropped the stick, 
 and taking the rat in his hand 
 he said to it : " Now you know 
 I was just going to kill you, 
 but you are such a nice little 
 fellow that I don't think I will, 
 only you must promise one 
 thing: I will give you plenty
 
 RATS. 45 
 
 to eat every morning, if you 
 will let my leather alone, and 
 not steal any more of it ; but if 
 you do, I will kill you." Now 
 I do not suppose Mr. Rat un- 
 derstood all this ; but somehow 
 or other he guessed that he 
 must not take what did not be- 
 long to him any more ; and so 
 from that time he was always 
 contented with the breakfast 
 his kind master gave him, and 
 never went near the box of 
 leather again. 
 
 You see from what I have 
 told you that rats are not very 
 dainty creatures ; they eat all
 
 46 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 sorts of things ; and if they 
 cannot find food enough they 
 do something which is very 
 naughty. Those that are very 
 big and strong fight with those 
 that are weak, and when they 
 have killed them they eat them 
 up; yes, the naughty rats eat 
 each other up, if they cannot 
 get anything they like better. 
 
 A gentleman had once a 
 beautiful white rat, which he 
 kept in a cage; and one day 
 when he went to look at her he 
 found that she had got four lit- 
 tle baby rats, all as white as 
 herself. He was very pleased
 
 RATS. 47 
 
 I 
 
 to think he had got five rats 
 instead of one, for white rats 
 are not very common ; but the 
 next day when he went to pay 
 his usual visit to the mother 
 and her children, he found them 
 all gone, and nothing in the 
 cage but a great ugly brown 
 rat. The horrid creature had 
 got in, and gobbled up the poor 
 white rat, and all her little 
 ones. 
 
 I am sure five rats must 
 be a great deal too much for 
 anybody's breakfast ; and so we 
 must hope he was very ill "af- 
 terwards, and was taught by
 
 48 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 sad experience not to be so 
 greedy another time. 
 
 You will say, after hearing 
 this story, that rats are very 
 cruel, wicked creatures, and 
 that you do not like them ; but 
 I have something still worse to 
 tell you. If a poor rat is taken 
 very ill, and seems as if he 
 would not live, his friends do 
 not nurse him and comfort him, 
 and try to be very kind to him ; 
 oh no ! they think it much bet- 
 ter to kill him at once, and so 
 they set to work and eat him 
 up; What do you think of 
 that ? How would you like to
 
 RATS. 49 
 
 be a poor sick rat? Not at 
 all, I expect ; for if you are ill 
 you like to be nursed, and pet- 
 ted, and kissed ; you like to 
 feel that other people are sorry, 
 and would make you well if 
 they could ; but the rats do not 
 seem to pity their poor friends 
 at all ; they only seem to think 
 that as he is ill they shall have 
 very little trouble in killing 
 him, because he is not strong 
 enough to defend himself. 
 
 However, we must not be too 
 angry with them for their cru- 
 elty to their sick brothers and 
 sisters, for we must remember 
 
 4
 
 60 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that there are some places in 
 the world where men and wo- 
 men do just the same thing, 
 and that is much worse, because 
 they ought to know better. 
 
 There are many things that 
 are very interesting even in the 
 fierce rats. It is very nice to 
 see their love for their little 
 ones, and their clever ways of 
 getting their food; and some- 
 times, like little Ikey, they 
 make very good and loving 
 pets.
 
 A I:.\T AM' in::: r..\\:\.
 
 1ATS. 
 
 little children are fond 
 of little birds, and so I sup- 
 pose you are too. You like 
 to hear their different songs 
 when you wake in the morning, 
 to watch them leaving their 
 nests in search of something for 
 their little ones' breakfast, or 
 teaching them, when they are 
 old enough, to fly, and to take 
 care of themselves. You like 
 to see them, and you often say 
 how pretty they are : the robin
 
 52 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 with his red waistcoat ; the 
 blackbird with his yellow beak; 
 the swallow with his black and 
 white coat ; and hosts of others, 
 of all colors and shapes. But 
 did you ever think why God 
 made the little birds ? Did he 
 only make them to look pretty 
 and to amuse us with their 
 sweet songs ? Oh, no ; it is 
 quite true that when he gave 
 them such beautiful voices he 
 did it partly that they might 
 cheer us, and make us feel glad 
 and happy, as I am sure they 
 often do ; but that is not their 
 only work. Do you know what
 
 BATS. 63 
 
 is the food of these little birds ? 
 They do not live only on seeds 
 and on the grains of corn they 
 can pick up in the fields, but 
 they like to have some meat too ; 
 and so they catch the flies and 
 gnats, and other insects which 
 fly about in the summer-time, 
 and make their dinner off them. 
 And by eating all these little 
 creatures they do a great deal 
 of good. If they did not do so 
 there would be so many flies, 
 so many gnats, so many wasps, 
 and so many caterpillars that 
 we should not know what to 
 do.
 
 54 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 
 
 This is the work of the little 
 birds ; but I am not going to 
 tell you about any kind of bird 
 to-day, but about a little crea- 
 ture who helps them very 
 much. 
 
 You know that when the sun 
 has set, and the moon comes 
 out, and the night covers the 
 earth, the little birds think that 
 it is time to go to bed ; so they 
 leave off their work and go to 
 their little nests, and there they 
 put their heads under their 
 wings and are soon fast asleep. 
 But in the meantime all the 
 insects have not gone to bed ;
 
 BATS. 55 
 
 some of them are very busy 
 still ; indeed, I think the gnats 
 come out the most in the even- 
 ing ; and then it is that the 
 little bat appears, all brisk and 
 lively, to begin his work just 
 where the swallow had left it 
 off. 
 
 Did you ever see a bat ? If 
 not, go to the window any warm 
 evening in the summer-time, 
 after it is dark, and you will be 
 almost sure to see one, flying 
 about in very much the same 
 way as the swallow does in the 
 daytime. But I do not promise 
 you that you will see much of
 
 56 LITTLE ANIMALS, 
 
 its shape, for the little thing 
 flies so fast, now close to the 
 ground, now high up among the 
 trees, now almost touching you, 
 and the next minute quite out 
 of sight, that it is almost impos- 
 sible to see what it is like 
 while it is flying,, and when it 
 is not on the wing it does not 
 look half so pretty^) * 
 
 But perhaps you want to 
 know whether the bat can sing 
 like the birds. Well, it certain- 
 ly can sing, but its voice is not 
 very pretty. I will tell you 
 what it is like : if you take a 
 slate pencil with a very sharp
 
 BATS. 57 
 
 point, and holding it as upright 
 as you can, draw it quickly 
 down your slate, it will make a 
 noise very like the note of a 
 bat, only nothing like so shrill 
 and sharp. \ , 
 
 Do you know that some peo- 
 ple are so silly as to be afraid 
 of these pretty little creatures, 
 and will never touch them if 
 they can help it ? A poor little 
 bat once flew by mistake into 
 a grocer's shop, and as he could 
 not find his way out again he 
 tried to hide himself behind a 
 pile of sugar-loaves on a high 
 shelf. Now the grocer, foolish
 
 58 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 man, was afraid to touch liirti, 
 and so he sent for a gentleman 
 who lived near, and who he 
 knew was very fond of little 
 animals, to come and catch his 
 bat for him. The gentleman 
 was very willing, and taking 
 with him an old cage he went 
 to the shop. There he found 
 Mr. Bat squeezed up as small 
 as possible into a corner, but 
 when he tried to take hold of 
 him the creature flapped his 
 wings and tried to escape ; but 
 his enemy was stronger than 
 he was, and soon made him fast 
 prisoner.
 
 BATS. 59 
 
 This little fellow had got 
 sharp little teeth, and tried hard 
 to bite: but he soon found it 
 was no use, and that he must 
 submit to being captured and 
 put into the wooden cage. 
 
 As soon as he was safe inside, 
 he began climbing up the back, 
 and hung on by his claws from 
 the top, having his head down- 
 wards ; a very uncomfortable 
 position, I should say ; but bats 
 always seem to like it best. 
 
 This little creature was a 
 dainty bat, and instead of eat- 
 ing insects whole as most of 
 them do, it would pick them to
 
 60 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 pieces, and only eat the parts 
 it liked best. And the same 
 with the pieces of meat that 
 were given to it ; if they were 
 at all hard or dry, nothing 
 would make it touch them. 
 
 This poor bat did not live 
 long in its wooden cage. I 
 daresay it was not so happy as 
 it would have been flying about 
 in the open air ; or perhaps it 
 had been hurt when it first flew 
 into the grocer's shop : anyhow, 
 it lived only two or three weeks, 
 and was found one morning 
 hanging by its hind claws from 
 the roof of the cage, quite dead.
 
 BATS. 61 
 
 It is not a very easy thing to 
 keep these tiny animals alive 
 in prison ; they are so fond of 
 flying about, and doing just 
 what they like, that when they 
 find themselves shut in tight, 
 and that they cannot get out, 
 they often grow very unhappy 
 and gloomy, and die in a few 
 days. Five large bats w^ere 
 once caught in a country town ; 
 four of them were lady bats, 
 and the other was a gentleman. 
 They were put into a large 
 cage, and were fed with every- 
 thing that bats generally seem 
 to like. But they all looked
 
 62 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 very melancholy, and would 
 not touch their food, thinking, 
 I daresay, that it would be 
 much nicer if they had caught 
 it themselves. The gentleman 
 bat was very cross indeed, much 
 worse than any of the ladies, 
 squeaking most -disrnallys and 
 biting the others whenever they 
 came near, and breaking his 
 teeth by trying to gnaw through 
 the bars of his cage. 
 
 At last, one day, he died, I 
 suppose, of a broken heart ; and 
 then the others began to forget 
 how unhappy they were, and 
 grew more cheerful and con-
 
 BATS. 63 
 
 tented. I daresay they were 
 very glad to be rid of cross Mr. 
 Bat, who had made himself so 
 disagreeable ; and for a few 
 days the four ladies lived to- 
 gether very happily. 
 
 But, one by one, three of 
 them died, and only one re- 
 mained ; but she grew very 
 tame, and used to spend all day 
 hanging by her hind feet from 
 the top of the cage, coming 
 down when it began to grow 
 dark, and flying about quite 
 merrily. 
 
 She also took great pains to 
 clean herself, combing out her
 
 64 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hair with her claws, and seeming 
 particularly anxious to have a 
 very nice straight parting down 
 her back. In a few days she had 
 a little baby bat, and now how 
 do you think the mother would 
 nurse her little child ? She had 
 a very funny way of nursing 
 it. She did not hold it, but it 
 held her. Is not that strange ? 
 But you know I told you that 
 the old bat used always to hang 
 from the cage by her claws with 
 her head downwards, and as the 
 little one liked to do so too, she 
 taught it to fix its tiny claws 
 into her body, arid to hang on
 
 BATS. 65 
 
 to her in the same way as she 
 hung to the cage. She liked 
 to have it very close to her, for 
 she was very fond of her baby, 
 and took a great deal of care of 
 it. 
 
 But after two days the moth- 
 er died, and the poor little bat 
 was left an orphan. The gen- 
 tleman to whom the bats be- 
 longed was very much afraid it 
 w r ould die too, now that it had 
 no one to take care of it, so he 
 wrapped it up in flannel to 
 keep it warm, and fed it with 
 a sponge dipped in milk. But 
 it was of no use ; the little crea-
 
 66 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ture could not do without its 
 mother, whose fur had kept it 
 so nice and warm, and after 
 eight days it died too. 
 
 So it is very plain that these 
 pretty little creatures do not 
 like to be shut up in cages, 
 and made prisoners, instead of 
 being allowed to spend their 
 lives in flying" about in the 
 beautiful open country, so hap- 
 py and so busy doing the work 
 for which they were made ; and 
 though I think you should try 
 all you can to find out all about 
 these curious little creatures, I 
 do not think you would like to
 
 BATS. 67 
 
 shut them up in a cage, because 
 you know how much happier 
 they would be if they were free 
 and wild as they were before 
 they were caught 
 
 Is there any lesson we can 
 learn from the little animals? 
 Let me see : I think there is. 
 The little mice taught us to be 
 industrious and to work hard ; 
 and now the bat adds a little 
 piece on to that lesson. It tells 
 us that we are to do our work 
 not only with all our might in 
 the day-time, I mean when peo- 
 ple can see us, but to do it just 
 as well when there is nobody to
 
 68 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 see and nobody to praise us for 
 our industry. 
 
 I said nobody to see, but yet 
 there is Somebody. There is 
 One who sees in the dark as 
 well as in the light, to whom 
 the night is as clear as the day : 
 the great God who made the 
 little bats, and who sent them 
 forth to do their work in the 
 night-time, to fill up the gap 
 the swallow leaves when it 
 goes to bed in the evening. 
 
 Yes, He sees, and we should 
 never forget that.
 
 FROGS. 
 
 were talking in the last 
 fpf chapter about a baby bat, 
 ; and about the great care 
 its mother takes of it, but in 
 this we are going to see if we 
 can find out anything about a 
 creature whose mother takes no 
 care of it at all when it is little, 
 but leaves it to manage for it- 
 self altogether. Did you ever 
 notice when you have been near 
 the side of a pond, some masses 
 of little eggs about the size of
 
 70 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 a pea, which float on the sur- 
 face of the water, generally ly- 
 ing among the long grass at 
 the edge of the pond ? I dare- 
 say you have seen them some- 
 times ; but perhaps you never 
 thought of asking what they 
 are, or anything about them. 
 
 Well, suppose you wore to 
 come back again in a few days 
 to the same place, do you think 
 you would find these dark-look- 
 ing eggs still there? Ah no; 
 they would be all gone ; and in 
 their places you would see 
 numbers and numbers of funny 
 little black creatures with very
 
 FROGS. 71 
 
 big heads, and flat thin tails, 
 which make them look some- 
 thing like fishes. These little 
 black creatures are called tad- 
 poles ; they grow very fast, be- 
 cause they eat a great deal, and 
 in a little while the long thin 
 tail disappears, little legs grow 
 instead ; and the animal is no 
 longer a tadpole, but a little 
 frog, jumping about just as you 
 have often seen frogs do. 
 
 Now, if you were to ask the 
 little frog where he would like 
 to live, and if it could answer 
 you, what do you think it would 
 say ? Why it would say, " Oh !
 
 72 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 let me stay here by this pond, 
 where the ground is so nice and 
 wet ; I like to have plenty to 
 drink, I am always so thirsty." 
 And if you did not listen to the 
 little frog, but took it away to 
 a place where there was no wa- 
 ter and where the ground was 
 dry, it would soon grow very 
 thin and die, for of all animals 
 the frog is the most thirsty. It 
 does not only drink with its 
 mouth, but it sucks up water 
 through a great many little 
 holes in its skin, just like a 
 sponge does if you put it in a 
 basin of water.
 
 FROGS. 73 
 
 A gentleman once caught a 
 number of frogs, which he kept 
 in a bowl of water ; as long as 
 there was plenty of water in 
 the basin, they looked very fat 
 and well ; but if he took them 
 out when the weather was very 
 hot they soon grew thin and 
 ill. These frogs grew quite 
 tame, and learned to take their 
 food from their master's hand. 
 They were very fond of flies, 
 and were very clever at catch- 
 ing them ; so, when the fruit 
 for the gentleman's dessert was 
 laid out in the storeroom, these 
 frogs were placed round it, to
 
 74 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 act as little policemen, and keep 
 the flies from spoiling it ; and 
 they did their work very well 
 indeed. 
 
 So as the frog likes a great 
 deal of water, and is very fond 
 of the insects that he finds in 
 it, I think it is quite right that 
 he should stay in the water, or 
 as near it as he likes ; for though 
 of course they are very useful 
 animals, and do a great deal of 
 good by eating the slugs and 
 other insects which are very 
 troublesome if they get into 
 cornfields or gardens, still I 
 cannot say that I should like to
 
 FROGS. 75 
 
 have a frog for a pet, or even a 
 toad, which is its first cousin, 
 you know. 
 
 So I say I think they had 
 better stay down in the ponds 
 and rivers, and let us go and 
 visit them there, instead of 
 coming to see us at home, where 
 they are never very welcome. 
 Now there are some very fanny 
 things about the frog which 
 you should look out for when 
 you go to see it. 
 
 One is that after it has worn 
 its coat for some time, and 
 thinks it is either getting very 
 tight or very shabby, it makes
 
 76 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 up its mind to get rid of it ; as 
 this is a very curious ceremony 
 I will tell you about it. When 
 a number of frogs have deter- 
 mined to change their skin, 
 having, of course, got'iiew ones 
 underneath, several of them be- 
 gin at once. Two of their com- 
 panions hold the one whose coat 
 is to come off, tight round the 
 middle of his body, while one 
 or two others give little bites 
 and pulls at his skin, till by de- 
 grees, first one leg, and then 
 the others, and at last the whole 
 body is set free, and the frog 
 appears with such a clean white
 
 FROGS. 77 
 
 skin that I am afraid he must 
 be very vain. 
 
 If there are many of these 
 little creatures changing their 
 coats at the same time, and in 
 the same pond, as there are 
 sometimes, they make quite a 
 loud noise with their croaking, 
 so that you would almost fancy 
 that there were some ducks in 
 the pond. 
 
 I have told you that frogs 
 are very thirsty creatures, and 
 like to live in damp places ; 
 but I must not forget to tell 
 you about one frog who was 
 different from most of his rela-
 
 78 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 tions in this respect, that he 
 always chose out warm and dry 
 places for his house. 
 
 He had made his way into a 
 gentleman's house by a hole in 
 the wall of the kitchen ; and 
 though for a long time he was 
 very shy and timid, and never 
 dared to leave his hiding-place 
 when any one was in the room, 
 yet after a time he forgot all 
 about his fears, and came out 
 regularly every day to be fed. 
 
 His favorite seat was close to 
 the kitchen fire, where he used 
 to sit for hours in the long win- 
 ter evenings ; and, being a great
 
 FROGS. 79 
 
 friend of the old cat, he would 
 often nestle himself under her 
 fur, she all the while making no 
 objection, but seeming quite 
 fond of her strange companion. 
 How it happened that this lit- 
 tle fellow had such a dislike to 
 the cold I do not know, for, as 
 I said before, most of his broth- 
 ers and sisters seem to be all 
 alive in damp, chilly weather, 
 and anything but happy if the 
 sun is very hot. 
 
 But before I finish this chap- 
 ter I must tell you of a dread- 
 ful scrape in which poor frog 
 once found himself.
 
 80 LITTLE AKBIALS. 
 
 In taking his usual morning 
 walk, this little fellow made a 
 mistake, and taking a rather 
 longer jump than usual, he 
 found himself close to a cage full 
 of monkeys, grinning and chat- 
 tering, and looking horribly mis- 
 chievous. Before he had time to 
 get over his fright enough to get 
 out of their way, one of these 
 mischievous little animals was 
 down on the ground, and putting 
 his paw between the bars, he 
 pulled poor froggie into the cage. 
 Oh, what a fright he was in ! 
 He expected every moment to 
 be bitten in two, and swallowed
 
 FROGS. 81 
 
 down. But no ; none of the 
 monkeys knew what to make 
 of the cold, wet creature ; and 
 they hardly liked to touch it ; 
 so one of them held him* up by 
 the end of one leg, while all the 
 rest stood examining him, to 
 see what could make him feel 
 so very strange. All the while 
 the poor old fellow was half 
 dead with fright, and tried to 
 show by his struggles how un- 
 comfortable he was, and how 
 much he wished they would 
 let him go. At last his kicking 
 became so violent that the 
 monkey let him fall, and with-
 
 82 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 out losing any more time the 
 frog picked himself up and 
 hopped off as fast as he could, 
 quite determined never to go 
 too near a monkey's cage again 
 as long as he lived. 
 
 Poor frogs sometimes get in- 
 to trouble and into great diffi- 
 culties in their battles with 
 other creatures. I have told 
 you that they themselves live 
 on insects, flies, snails, and 
 worms, but I do not think I 
 have told you that they are 
 themselves eaten by larger an- 
 imals. A gentleman was once 
 walking through a field, when
 
 FROGS. 83 
 
 he heard a very loud croaking, 
 as if a poor frog was in great 
 distress somewhere near. The 
 sound seemed to come from a 
 ditch not far off, so he went to 
 see if he could find out what 
 was the matter ; and there he 
 saw a large snake having a 
 great battle with a fine fat frog. 
 Mr. Snake had got the best 
 of the fight, so far, and was try- 
 ing to swallow poor froggie, 
 having got his fore legs into 
 his mouth, and pulling away 
 with all his might to get the 
 hind ones in too. The poor 
 frog, however, had a great dis-
 
 84 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 like to being treated in this 
 way ; to be swallowed alive, 
 the very idea was so horrible ; 
 so with all his strengh the 
 struggled to get free, croak- 
 ing all the while as loud as he 
 could, I daresay in hopes some 
 brother frog might hear and 
 come to help. 
 
 No brother or sister, however, 
 was to be seen ; but the gen- 
 tleman who was watching the 
 fight happened to make a lit- 
 tle noise, which frightened the 
 snake so much that he dropped 
 the poor frog and made off as 
 fast as possible.
 
 FROGS. 85 
 
 The poor fellow could hardly 
 believe that his horrid enemy 
 was really gone, and that he 
 was safe in the ditch once more. 
 It seemed too good to be true ; 
 but yet the snake was nowhere 
 to be seen ; so, after waiting a 
 little while to recover himself, 
 for he was still feeling rather 
 queer and uncomfortable, he 
 hopped off again to his hole, 
 thinking, I daresay, what very 
 disagreeable creatures snakes 
 are, and hoping he should never 
 meet one again. 
 
 Now 1 have told you a great 
 many funny things about frogs,
 
 86 LITTLE ANIMALS, 
 
 and I have shown you, too, 
 that though they are not very 
 pretty animals, they are useful 
 ones. They do a great deal of 
 good by eating the little slugs 
 and insects which spoil the 
 flowers and vegetables in our 
 gardens ; but that is not their 
 only use. 
 
 In some countries people eat 
 the frogs, and like them very 
 much ; and I daresay if you 
 were to go to France, you might 
 like them very much too ; for 
 Chough we do not eat them in 
 England, and think it is very 
 strange for anybody to do so,
 
 FROGS. 87 
 
 the French people like them 
 very much, and say they are 
 quite as good as a chicken when 
 they are nicely cooked ; and 
 they give them to sick people 
 who cannot eat anything but 
 very nice food.
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 
 
 SAID something at the be- 
 ginning of this little book 
 about the great care and 
 love with which God watches 
 over his smallest creatures. I 
 showed you how he teaches the 
 little mice to lay up their food 
 for the winter, so that they may 
 not be starved when the cold 
 weather comes, and they cannot 
 find any food ; and, in the same 
 way, when we were talking 
 about the bat, I told you how
 
 HEDGEHOG AND THE S.VAKK.
 
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 89 
 
 the timid little thing that can- 
 not venture out in the daylight, 
 finds its food all ready for it, 
 when the sun having set, and 
 all around being dark, it creeps 
 out from its hiding-place in 
 some old barn or church tower, 
 and begins its evening flight. 
 And so with all the other 
 little animals that I have been 
 telling you about : we see, in 
 many different ways, the ten- 
 der love of the great God for all 
 the things that he has made ; 
 and in the life of the little 
 hedgehog the same thing is 
 very plain.
 
 90 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Have you ever seen one of 
 these little animals ? If so, 
 you know that it is not a very 
 pretty creature ; it has a coat 
 all over things very like long 
 thorns, which are called spines ; 
 and it is with these that the 
 hedgehog defends itself from 
 all its enemies. 
 
 For it has a great many en- 
 emies. The weasel, the marten, 
 the polecat, and many large 
 birds often fight with it, and 
 try and kill it ; but they very 
 seldom succeed ; for as soon as 
 they begin their attack, the 
 hedgehog rolls itself into a ball,
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 91 
 
 covering its head with its prick- 
 ly spines, and then no animal 
 dares to come near it : and no 
 wonder they keep at a distance ; 
 for I daresay you have some- 
 times put your hand for a mo- 
 ment into a thorny rosebush, 
 or gooseberry bush, and know 
 how it feels, arid how fast you 
 draw it back again, and how 
 many scratches you find on it 
 when you have got free from 
 the thorns. Now, if it had not 
 this spiny coat, the little hedge- 
 hog would be quite unable to 
 fight with all the fierce animals 
 that attack it; for it cannot,
 
 92 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 like some of the creatures you 
 have read about, run away and 
 get out of their reach. It can- 
 not move fast, and is very clum- 
 sy and awkward; and so this 
 is why God has given it such a 
 thick thorny coat to protect it, 
 just as the coats of mail were 
 made to protect the soldiers 
 long ago. But though the 
 hedgehog has so many enemies, 
 it is not at all a fierce creature 
 itself. It generally feeds on 
 worms and insects, and lives in 
 a hole in the ground at the root 
 of a tree. Sometimes people 
 catch hedgehogs and keep them
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 93 
 
 in the kitchen to kill black 
 beetles and other insects; and 
 sometimes they grow very tame, 
 and even catch mice as well as 
 cats do. 
 
 It seems funny to think that 
 such queer-looking creatures 
 can ever be tamed ; but it is 
 quite true : and sometimes they 
 grow quite fond of their mas- 
 ters, and like to be petted and 
 caressed. I heard of one once 
 which would stretch itself out, 
 and lie on its master's knees 
 before the fire, letting him 
 stroke that part of its face that 
 has no spines, and evidently
 
 94 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 liking to feel the touch of his 
 hand. 
 
 Another grew so tame that 
 it made friends with an old ter- 
 rier dog, and the two would lie 
 together before the fire, nestling 
 close together that they might 
 keep each other warm. And 
 they did not, like some little 
 people I know, soon forget their 
 love for each other, and begin 
 to quarrel ; but they continued 
 to be the best friends in the 
 world as long as they lived. 
 
 Now, though I said the 
 hedgehog generally lives on 
 worms and insects, and does
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 95 
 
 not often kill anything larger, 
 it does sometimes eat small 
 snakes ; but then it must be a 
 very bold hedgehog that will 
 dare to fight with a snake. 
 
 A gentleman once saw a very 
 fierce battle going on between 
 a hedgehog and a snake ; and 
 it was very funny to see how 
 cleverly the little fat crea- 
 ture attacked its slippery en- 
 emy. Watching its opportuni- 
 ty, it quickly unrolled itself, 
 and gave the snake a sharp 
 bite ; but before it could be hurt 
 in return, it had again turned 
 into a round spiky ball, so that
 
 93 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the poor snake was quite puz- 
 zled what to do. While he was 
 wondering, the hedgehog again 
 uncurled itself, and with anoth- 
 er bite, breaking the back of 
 its enemy, gained a complete 
 victory. And now there was 
 nothing for it to do but to be- 
 gin its dinner, and so it set to 
 work. First it passed the whole 
 body of the poor snake through 
 its teeth, breaking the bones at 
 each bite ; this was the hedge- 
 hog's way of dressing its dinner. 
 It did not want a saucepan to 
 boil it, or a fire to roast it, nor 
 anything to make it nicer than
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 97 
 
 it was ; for to our little friend I 
 daresay a whole snake was a 
 very great treat ; anyhow, it 
 eat it all up, and seemed to en- 
 joy it very much. 
 
 There is one animal, how- 
 ever, that can kill the hedge- 
 hog in spite of its spines and its 
 clever way of defending itself. 
 The fox, as you know very well, 
 is a most cunning creature ; 
 and he is the worst enemy of 
 the little hedgehog ; for he has 
 found out how to make it un- 
 roll itself, and when that is 
 done, it is very easy to kill it. 
 I daresay that even Mr. Fox 
 
 7
 
 98 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 was very much puzzled at first ; 
 but when we look at his sharp 
 face, and little round twinkling 
 eyes, we can easily believe all 
 that people tell us about his 
 being so sly, so mischievous, 
 and so cunning. 
 
 Now, the fox is too wise, a 
 great deal, to go near those 
 sharp thorns and get his nose 
 pricked ; oh no : he knows bet- 
 ter than that. He sees that 
 though the hedgehog has cov- 
 ered its head safely, yet its feet 
 are left bare ; and so, running 
 at them, he gives them a little 
 bite with his sharp-pointed
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 99 
 
 teeth, just hard enough to make 
 it uncurl itself; and then he 
 knows he can do what he likes 
 with it, for then it is quite help- 
 less and defenceless. 
 
 No wonder, then, that the 
 hedgehog is so much afraid of 
 the sharp, clever fox, when even 
 the thick armor that God has 
 given it for defence cannot pro- 
 tect it from his attacks. 
 
 But you have heard quite 
 enough about the hedgehog, 
 and we will now go and see 
 ope of its cousins, a funny little 
 creature that lives underground, 
 and very seldom comes up into
 
 100 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 sight. Perhaps it does not like 
 the light, for it has very tiny 
 eyes, so small indeed that they 
 can hardly be seen ; so it makes 
 its house underground, feeding 
 on those long worms which I 
 daresay you have often seen 
 crawling about in the garden. 
 Now, it seems to us very 
 strange that any creature 
 should like to live in a hole in 
 the earth where the sun does 
 not shine, and where every- 
 thing is so dark ; I am sure no 
 little child would choose such a 
 home so dismal, gloomy, and 
 cold. Why is it, then, that the
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 101 
 
 little mole picks out such a 
 place in which to build his 
 house ? I think there is a very 
 good reason. You know that 
 God has made every one of his 
 creatures for some particular 
 purpose, and has given to each 
 the work that it has to do. He 
 made the horses, cows, and 
 sheep for our use; and what 
 should we do without them? 
 And the smaller creatures too 
 have all their different work to 
 do. And what is the little 
 mole's business, do you think ? 
 Have you ever noticed little 
 heaps of earth on the garden
 
 102 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 flower-beds, beaten down and 
 patted very smooth ? Well, 
 this is the mole's house, and 
 from this heap there are many 
 little tunnels running in differ- 
 ent directions : it is in these 
 little passages that the mole 
 catches the worms for its food. 
 
 Now this funny little house, 
 with its tunnels and passages, 
 is like a drain, and carries away 
 the water which would very 
 likely injure the roots of the 
 plants if it were left there too 
 long. 
 
 This is the work that the 
 mole is busy about all its life ;
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 103 
 
 and this is why it always lives 
 underground. So when you see 
 the little mounds of earth in 
 the garden you will know that 
 the little animal that is hidden 
 below r them is working hard to 
 do its Maker's will ; and I hope 
 the sight will make you say to 
 yourself, " Am I as busy serv- 
 ing God and doing what he 
 tells me to do as that little 
 mole is?" 
 
 A mole seems a funny crea- 
 ture to pet, and yet a gentle- 
 man kept one once that he 
 might watch it at its work. At 
 first he could not find anything
 
 104 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 that would do for its house ; 
 but at last it was put into a 
 very large tub filled with earth, 
 for you know it would not 
 live if it had not some earth in 
 which to bury itself. 
 
 As soon as it found itself in 
 the tub it sank instantly out 
 of sight; and though its mas- 
 ter wanted very much to see 
 it at work, it would never come 
 above ground ; and the only 
 way in which he could watch 
 it was by digging it out, and 
 letting it run along a hard 
 gravel-walk. 
 
 You would think it would be
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 105 
 
 pleased to get free to have a 
 run in the bright sunshine af- 
 ter having been so long in the 
 dark, underground ; but no : di- 
 rectly it was loose it began 
 trying to find a place soft 
 enough for a tunnel, by which 
 it might hide itself again deep 
 down in the earth. Several 
 times, when it had nearly suc- 
 ceeded, it was dragged out 
 again ; but at last it slipped 
 off the path on to a soft place, 
 and in an instant was gone 
 quite out of sight. They tried 
 to dig it up again, but it could 
 dig faster than any spade, and
 
 106 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 so the pet mole was never seen 
 any more. Now, these little 
 animals are not very sociable ; 
 though they have such beau- 
 tifully made little houses un- 
 derground, they keep them all 
 to themselves, and if another 
 mole w r ere to corne in and try 
 to make his house in the same 
 hill as one of his friends, he 
 would either be driven out 
 very quickly, or there would 
 be a very fierce battle to decide 
 who should be master ; and 
 the two little animals would 
 go on fighting till one or other 
 of them was killed.
 
 THE HEDGEHOG AND ITS COUSIN. 107 
 
 You would not have thought 
 that that black, stupid-looking 
 creature could be so savage, 
 would you ? but it really is one 
 of the fiercest of animals, and, 
 except when it is asleep, it 
 spends the whole of its time 
 hunting for insects and small 
 animals for food, venturing in- 
 to all sorts of dangers without 
 the least fear, if there is a 
 chance of finding some prey. 
 
 It will even go into the wa- 
 ter, and swim boldly across a 
 stream, if the creature it is 
 chasing is a water animal ; for, 
 besides being able to dig so
 
 108 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 well, the mole is a first-rate 
 swimmer ; his feet are more 
 like hands than claws, and do 
 just as well to help him in 
 swimming as in digging. 
 
 So God has provided for all 
 these creatures' wants. They 
 live almost altogether under- 
 ground, in the dark ; so he has 
 given to them very weak, small 
 eyes; but if they cannot see 
 well, they have very sharp 
 ears, and can hear the least 
 noise made by a worm creeping 
 near them, or by an insect 
 buzzing near the entrance of 
 their holes.
 
 SHREW-MICE. 
 
 ERHAPS you would never 
 have thought that the lit- 
 tle creature you see in the 
 picture could be any relation 
 to the clumsy, fat hedgehog' 
 you have just been reading 
 about, or to the groping, dig- 
 ging little mole; but it really 
 is very nearly related to both 
 
 of them. 
 
 
 
 Look at its pointed nose ; is 
 it not something like that of 
 the hedgehog ? And if it would
 
 110 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 open its mouth and show you 
 its teeth, you would see they 
 are very sharp and pointed, 
 just like those of both its cous- 
 ins. 
 
 Now, though this little ani- 
 mal is called a shrew-mouse, 
 you must not think it is at all 
 like the little creatures which 
 we were talking about in the 
 first chapter, the little mice 
 you have so often seen running 
 about ; or, if you have not seen 
 them, for they are very timid, 
 and do not like to be seen, I 
 am sure you must have often 
 heard them.
 
 SHREW-MICE. Ill 
 
 But the little shrew-mouse 
 is a very different creature ; it 
 lives in the fields, and may be 
 often seen hunting for and feed- 
 ing on the insects and worms 
 w r hich are its food. 
 
 Now, it is a very innocent 
 little animal, and never does 
 any harm, and so nobody is 
 afraid of it ; but a long time 
 ago everybody thought it was 
 a poisonous animal, and did a 
 great deal of harm. 
 
 They really thought that if 
 this pretty little thing touched 
 the body of a cow, or a horse, 
 or any other animal, it would
 
 112 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 hurt it very much ; and if any 
 of these creatures were taken 
 ill they were always quite sure 
 that it was because a little 
 shrew had touched it, or run 
 over it. 
 
 That was very silly, was it 
 not? And the way in which 
 they tried to cure the sick ani- 
 mal was still more foolish, and, 
 what is worse, very cruel too. 
 
 They used to look for an ash 
 tree, and when they had found 
 one, what do you think they 
 did ? They made a little hole 
 in the side of the trunk, and 
 having taken prisoner a poor
 
 SHREW-MICE. 113 
 
 little shrew, they put him 
 alive into the hole in the tree, 
 and then fastened it up tight, 
 so that he could not get out, 
 but died from want of air. 
 
 What could be the use of 
 treating him so cruelly ? What 
 good could it do to the cow 
 or the horse that was ill ? 
 None at all, of course ; but 
 these silly people thought that 
 the leaves of the tree in which 
 the poor shrew died were the 
 best medicine the invalid could 
 have, and were quite sure it 
 would get well directly it had 
 eaten some of them. 
 
 8
 
 114 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Perhaps you may have seen 
 some very old trees in different 
 parts of the country, which are 
 called shrew-ashes. There is 
 one in Richmond Park: it is 
 very much broken, and has not 
 many leaves on it, and I dare- 
 say will not live very much 
 longer ; but if you should ever 
 see it, you will remember what 
 I have told you about these 
 trees, and the poor little shrews 
 who were so cruelly killed in 
 them. 
 
 But this is not the only kind 
 of shrew there is. You remem- 
 ber I told you that this one lived
 
 SHREW-MICE. 115 
 
 in the fields and fed on worms ; 
 but there is another shrew that 
 lives in the water, and eats the 
 insects and little fishes which 
 it finds there. Both these lit- 
 tle creatures have very pointed 
 noses and long tails; but the 
 one that lives in the water has 
 a very nice smooth coat, very 
 like the coat of the mole, and 
 when it comes out of the pond 
 where it has been swimming 
 about, it looks as shiny and 
 silky as if it were made of velvet. 
 This little creature seems to 
 lead a very happy life. It is 
 so lively and merry, it has so
 
 116 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 niany funny ways, and is always 
 so busy and active, that I think 
 it can hardly have time to be 
 unhappy. 
 
 If you were to find out a 
 place where these shrews live, 
 down by the edge of a pond, 
 and were to sit down near it 
 to watch them, you would see 
 many things that would amuse 
 you, and you would almost 
 forget that they are only 
 little mice, and have not the 
 sense you have, when you see 
 the games they play, and all 
 their funny tricks. 
 
 They are very much afraid
 
 SHREW-MICE. 117 
 
 of large animals, and especially 
 of men; and though you are 
 very small, and would make 
 very little noise, still, if you 
 speak or laugh, they will all 
 run away as fast as their little 
 legs will carry them. But if 
 you are very quiet, they will 
 not find out you are anywhere 
 near, and then you will see 
 them swimming about in the 
 water, chasing the insects, and 
 especially a large water beetle 
 which they are always very 
 anxious to catch, for it is their 
 favorite food; and then when 
 they have caught it, they do
 
 118 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 not eat it in the water, but 
 bring it safely ashore, and hay- 
 ing found out a nice dry stone, 
 they sit down to take their 
 dinner comfortably. And now 
 see in what a funny way they 
 eat. They do not lay the in- 
 sect down on the stone before 
 them, and bite it while it lies 
 on the ground, but they take 
 it up between their two fore- 
 paws, and, holding it very 
 tightly, as if they were still 
 afraid it might escape, they 
 begin their feast. 
 
 And then, when dinner is 
 over, and they have had a little
 
 SHREW-MICE. - 119 
 
 nap, they all go out for a walk, 
 or rather for a rim, for the 
 water-shrew is such an active 
 little fellow that he does not 
 often move slowly, but runs as 
 fast as such tiny feet can possi- 
 bly go. Well, their walk is 
 generally backwards and for- 
 wards by the edge of the pond ; 
 and when they pass each other 
 in their turns, they both give 
 a sharp cry, as much as to say, 
 " Good-morning," or, " How do 
 you do ? " just as you would do 
 if you met a little friend in 
 your walks. 
 
 A gentleman was walking
 
 120 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 one evening in his orchard, a 
 little before sunset, and watch- 
 ing the flies and insects swim- 
 ming about in a little pool of 
 clear water, when all at once 
 he saw something that looked 
 like a very large beetle dart 
 through -the water, and disap- 
 pear in the grass on the bank. 
 He waited a little while to 
 see if it would come out again ; 
 and very soon he spied it leav- 
 ing its hole, and, diving under 
 water, bury itself among the 
 leaves at the bottom of the 
 pool, and then he saw that it 
 was a little shrew-mouse. After
 
 SHREW-MICE. 121 
 
 staying there a few minutes it 
 came up again, and once more 
 went to its hole in the bank, 
 most likely to eat some insect 
 it had caught among the mud 
 and leaves under water. Sev- 
 eral times it went backwards 
 and forwards, but it always 
 seemed very timid, and dived 
 under water at the least noise. 
 
 This little creature did not 
 live alone in the pool : it had a 
 mate just like itself, only much 
 more slender and delicate look- 
 ing, her coat too being of a 
 lighter brown. 
 
 The gentleman used often to
 
 J22 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 look for them when they came 
 out of their hole in the even- 
 ings, for they were never seen 
 in the daytime ; and to watch 
 their graceful movements in 
 the water, and to listen to their 
 short, sharp cries to each other, 
 was his great delight for some 
 months, and very sorry indeed 
 he was when, about the end 
 of May, they both disappeared, 
 and he never saw them again. 
 The little water-shrew has 
 one great enemy, and that is 
 the weasel. This long, thin 
 creature lives on small animals, 
 and it often chases the little
 
 SHREW-MICE. 123 
 
 shrew, and* frightens it very 
 much ; but if it is near the 
 water, it can always escape by 
 diving below the surface, where 
 the weasel cannot follow it. 
 
 What a good thing it is for 
 the little shrew that it knows 
 how to .dive ! and how kind 
 and wise that great God is who 
 knows all the dangers and 
 wants of all these tiny animals, 
 and takes such care of them !
 
 SQUIRRELS. 
 
 'E have been talking about 
 many different little ani- 
 l mals, all of them very curi- 
 ous, and some of them very pret- 
 ty and interesting ; but I think 
 there is one that is far prettier 
 than any we have had yet, and 
 that is the little Squirrel. 
 
 I should think that most of 
 you must have seen a squirrel 
 at some time or other, either a 
 tame one in a little round cage, 
 or a much happier wild one
 
 SQUIRRELS. 125 
 
 living in tile woods among the 
 tall fir trees. If you have only 
 seen them shut up in a cage, 
 you do not know much about 
 them, for there they look the 
 most quiet creatures in the 
 world, as if they cared for noth- 
 ing but twirling round and 
 round all day long, making one 
 feel quite giddy to look at 
 them ; but if you saw them in 
 the woods where they were 
 born, and where they ought 
 always to be, you would say 
 that they are the happiest, 
 merriest little animals you have 
 ever seen ; and so they are.
 
 126 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 Some years ago, when I was 
 staying in the country, it hap- 
 pened that close to the side of 
 the house where my bedroom 
 was, there grew some tall fir 
 trees, the long branches of 
 which used almost to touch my 
 window, and in these trees, 
 sheltered from the cold by their 
 dark, thick leaves, some dear 
 little squirrels had made their 
 home. 
 
 Wild little animals they were 
 indeed, but oh, so happy ! 
 How any one can shut up those 
 merry little things in a tiny 
 cage, so small that they can
 
 SQUIRRELS. 127 
 
 hardly turn round in it, I never 
 can imagine. I used to love to 
 watch them as they ran along 
 the long, thin branches which 
 shook beneath their feet; com- 
 ing so close to the window 
 that they could almost peep in, 
 and say, Good-morning ; and 
 then, if I made any noise, 
 scampering off again with their 
 tails over their backs, and their 
 bright eyes twinkling, to hide 
 themselves in some dark part 
 of the tree. But though squir- 
 rels are generally very timid, 
 these little friends of ours 
 seemed to have found out some-
 
 128 LITTLE ANIMALS: 
 
 how or other that we would 
 not hurt them; and so they 
 grew very bold. There were 
 some fine chestnut trees on our 
 lawn before the dining-room 
 window; and the squirrels were 
 not long in finding them out, 
 and in making frequent jour- 
 neys to them when the nuts 
 were ripe. Now we, too, were 
 fond of chestnuts, and would 
 have liked to keep some for 
 ourselves ; but, unfortunately, 
 we could not climb like our 
 little friends, and so our share 
 was very small. For they 
 would run across the gravel-
 
 SQUIRRELS. 129 
 
 paths, scamper over the lawn, 
 and be high up in the trees 
 before we could get near to 
 frighten them away ; and often 
 and often I have seen the little 
 things perched on the very 
 highest boughs, cracking the 
 nuts with their sharp little 
 teeth, or carrying them off 
 with great delight, to be hid- 
 den in some safe place till they 
 were wanted in the winter- 
 time. 
 
 And- where do you think 
 their store-rooms are? Either 
 a hole deep in the ground, or 
 in the trunk of a tree, serves' 
 
 . 9
 
 130 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 for a cupboard to keep their 
 food in till the cold weather 
 comes ; for, like the little 
 mouse, the squirrel is obliged 
 to save up some of its summer 
 food to eat in the winter. The 
 nuts which it can find so easi- 
 ly in the autumn, and the corn 
 in harvest-time, are what the 
 squirrel loves best ; and this is 
 why God has given to it such 
 active little feet, and taught it 
 to climb and run so well. And 
 so, when it sees the snow on 
 the ground, and hears the wind 
 making such a noise among 
 the trees, the little squirrel is
 
 SQUIRRELS. 131 
 
 not afraid that it will die ei- 
 ther of cold or hunger, for it 
 has plenty of food to last a long 
 while ; and such a warm coat, 
 and such a nice little nest, that 
 it can put up with a good deal 
 of cold, even though it has not 
 a fire as you have. 
 
 Now, sometimes this prudent 
 little animal does not hide its 
 nuts and acorns all in the same 
 hole. Sometimes it digs a hole 
 for each nut and each acorn ; 
 and then, as it buries so many 
 every year, it is hardly likely 
 that it can remember where it 
 has put them all.
 
 132 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 A lady was walking about 
 in a wood, when she noticed a 
 squirrel sitting at the bottom 
 of a tree ; it was so busily oc- 
 cupied that she stood still to 
 watch it, and in a few moments 
 it darted like lightning from 
 the ground, and in an instant 
 was at the top of the tree be- 
 neath which it had been sit- 
 ting. 
 
 After staying a few minutes, 
 she saw it again on the ground, 
 holding an acorn in its mouth, 
 It instantly began to dig a hole 
 in the ground with its paws, 
 and when it was big enough,
 
 SQUIRRELS. 133 
 
 the acorn was put in, and neat- 
 ly covered up with earth. 
 
 It then returned to the tree, 
 bringing down another acorn, 
 and this it did many times till 
 it had safely buried a great 
 many. And do you think it 
 would find them all again ? 
 Oh no ! I daresay many of 
 them would be dug up and 
 eaten in the winter; but still 
 most likely it would lose a few, 
 and then, what would become 
 of them ? Why, they would 
 grow up into great tall trees, 
 oak trees, bearing acorns to 
 feed other squirrels, perhaps
 
 134 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 the great-grandchildren of the 
 very squirrel who hid them, 
 little thinking what would be- 
 come of them. 
 
 A great many of those tall 
 oak trees, which make our 
 woods look so beautiful, have, 
 I daresay, been planted by these 
 tiny animals : and so, without 
 knowing it themselves, they 
 are very useful to us; for be- 
 sides the cool shadows which 
 the thick leaves of the oak cast 
 for us on a hot sunny day, it 
 is a very valuable tree because 
 of its wood, of which so many 
 useful things are made.
 
 SQUIRRELS. 135 
 
 Now, when we see how hap- 
 py and useful the little squirrel 
 is in the woods, it always seems 
 to me very cruel to make pets 
 of them, and shut them up in 
 cages. They may grow con- 
 tented, and perhaps happy, in 
 prison, and I daresay they often 
 do ; but I feel quite sure they 
 would be still happier in the 
 open air ; free to go where they 
 like. Still, people do not al- 
 ways think so; and they like 
 to have a little squirrel in a 
 cage, and try to tame it, and 
 make it amusing and playful. 
 I will tell you a story of a pet
 
 136 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 squirrel, and then you can make 
 up your mind whether you will 
 choose one of these dear little 
 creatures for your pet or not. 
 
 This little fellow was caught 
 in a wood, and brought in a 
 box to a gentleman's house, 
 where a cage was got for it, 
 and everything to make it com- 
 fortable and happy was provid- 
 ed. Chestnuts and almonds and 
 acorns were put into the cage 
 for its dinner, and the lady to 
 whom it belonged tried to coax 
 it to come out and feed. But 
 no : it would not move, but 
 sat squeezed up in a corner,
 
 SQUIRRELS. 137 
 
 arid never touched anything 
 that was put before it, or took 
 the smallest notice of any- 
 thing. 
 
 Now, when the lady saw how 
 unhappy it seemed, she was 
 very sorry she had put it into 
 the cage, and wished she could 
 set it free again ; but then it 
 was winter-time, and the snow, 
 was on the ground, and as the 
 squirrel had been brought from 
 a great distance, she knew that 
 it would not be able to find its 
 way to its old nest, or to make 
 itself a new one. 
 
 She therefore determined to
 
 138 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 set him free again as soon as 
 the spring came, and till then 
 she would try to make him as 
 happy as she could. 
 
 Well, all day long the poor 
 little thing never moved from 
 the corner of the cage ; but 
 when the evening came he 
 ventured out, and began to 
 gnaw at the wooden part of 
 his cage. 
 
 The lady thought that of 
 course he would never be able 
 to get out in that way, and was, 
 therefore, very much aston- 
 ished when, with a sudden 
 crash, the side of the cage gave
 
 
 SQUIRRELS. 131) 
 
 way, and the squirrel bounded 
 into the middle of the room, 
 screaming with joy to find him- 
 self really free. 
 
 Now, all this happened in 
 the middle of the night, when 
 the lady was in bed; but as 
 she knew that it would be im- 
 possible to catch him in the 
 dark, she let him frisk about 
 the room till the morning 
 dawned. And very merry he 
 was, thinking that though it 
 was nothing like so nice as a 
 fir forest, a large room to jump 
 about in was much better than 
 that horrid cage.
 
 140 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 His merry pranks, his jumps 
 from one corner of the room to 
 the other, quite prevented his 
 mistress from going to sleep 
 again ; so she lay still and 
 watched his gambols; but just 
 as it was growing light, she 
 heard a rattling among the 
 china ornaments on the chim- 
 ney-piece, and looking up she 
 saw Master Squirrel seated in 
 great state on the top of her 
 favorite vase, looking as happy 
 and contented as if he was once 
 more on the topmost bough of 
 a fir tree. 
 
 Every minute she expected
 
 SQUIRRELS. 141 
 
 to see it smashed to pieces on 
 the ground ; but no : the tiny 
 feet of the squirrel did no harm 
 at all, and with another bound 
 he was soon far away from the 
 treasures on the chimney-piece, 
 only sweeping the dust off them 
 with his long feathery tail as 
 he sprang. 
 
 But when morning came, 
 his games were soon over ; and 
 though he tried hard to escape, 
 he was once more shut up in 
 his hated cage, never more to 
 be free. 
 
 For two days he lay quite 
 still in one corner, never touch-
 
 142 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ing his food, nor raising his lit- 
 tle head, and the third day he 
 died. Poor little fellow ! he 
 could not bear to be a pris- 
 oner; and when he found he 
 could not escape, he died of a 
 broken heart. 
 
 Now, I do not say that all 
 pet squirrels are as unhappy as 
 this one was ; many of them 
 grow quite tame and contented; 
 but I am sure they are always 
 much happier in the woods 
 and fields ; indeed, it would be 
 very strange if they were not, 
 for nobody likes to be a pris- 
 oner if he can be free. How
 
 SQUIRRELS. 143 
 
 would you like to be shut up 
 always in a tiny room, and 
 never to stir out of it ? Not at 
 all, you say ; you like to be 
 able to go where you like, and 
 do what you like. And so does 
 the little squirrel. 
 
 And then, when we remem- 
 ber what a short time these 
 little animals have to live, and 
 that they have no new life to 
 begin after death as we have, 
 no long life of happiness in an- 
 other world ; when we remem- 
 ber this, I think we should be 
 very sorry to make their little 
 life here an unhappy one, when
 
 144 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 it friight have been so glad and 
 merry ; and I think we should 
 rather try to be as kind to them 
 as we can, remembering that 
 they are God's creatures, and 
 not ours ; and that without 
 them our world would not be 
 half so beautiful, or so pleasant 
 and cheerful as it is now. 
 
 Now, you know, I told you 
 that the little squirrel when he 
 buries his acorns or chestnuts 
 often forgets where he puts 
 them, and cannot find them 
 again ; and that then the little 
 acorn takes root in the ground, 
 and by-and-by there comes up
 
 SQUIRRELS. 145 
 
 a tree, which grows very tall 
 and very beautiful ; and so the 
 little animal that planted it is 
 very useful. And then, after it 
 is dead, we use its fur to make 
 warm muffs, and cloaks to keep 
 us warm in the winter-time. 
 Now, this fur is red in sum- 
 mer-time, and does not look 
 at all like the muffs which we 
 use, but in some cold countries 
 the hair changes color in the 
 winter, and becomes the pretty 
 gray fur which we use so much. 
 I daresay some of you have 
 got muffs or boas made out of 
 
 squirrels' fur ; if so, did you 
 
 10
 
 146 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ever think that that nice soft 
 stuff was once the coat of one 
 of these happy little creatures ; 
 the warm coat that God gave 
 it for two reasons first, that 
 it might be able to bear the 
 cold winds and snowy weather 
 of its native country ; and then 
 that when the squirrel had 
 done with it, it might be used 
 to keep you warm? Did you 
 ever think of this? And do 
 you not agree with me that all 
 God's ways are very wonderful ? 
 Even in such little things as the 
 squirrel's coat, see how beauti- 
 fully he has planned it all !
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 
 
 ND now for a few words * 
 about cats. They are so 
 much bigger than any of 
 the other animals that we have 
 been talking about, that I have 
 kept them to the last, because, 
 as our first chapter was about 
 the smallest of little four-legged 
 animals, the mouse, I thought 
 the largest of our little friends 
 should wait till the end. 
 
 Now r , I am not going to tell 
 you what a cat is like, as I did
 
 148 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 with the other creatures in this 
 little book, nor am I going to 
 ask you to tell me, for if I did 
 I am sure you would all speak 
 at once, and there would be 
 such a noise that I should not 
 be able to hear a word; for 
 you have seen cats as long as 
 you can remember, and most 
 likely have had many pet cats 
 of your own. 
 
 Yes, cats are very common 
 creatures, but I do not think 
 we like them any the less for 
 that ; I like to see them in ev- 
 ery house, and I think that 
 home would hardly seem like
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 149 
 
 home to us if dear old puss 
 were not there. 
 
 Now, there are many differ- 
 ent kinds of cats : there are 
 our own tame cats in England, 
 black and white, tabby and 
 tortoiseshell, all of them very 
 pretty ; and then in countries 
 far away there are wild cats, an- 
 imals which are very like the 
 tame ones, only that they have 
 such a wild, fierce look about 
 their eyes, and sometimes very 
 rough coats. And then there 
 are Smyrna and Persian cats, 
 which have very long, silky 
 fur ; and Egyptian and Nubian
 
 150 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 cats, which are more like Eng- 
 lish ones. 
 
 A great many years ago, 
 these Egyptian cats were con- 
 sidered very holy, and wor- 
 shipped as if they were gods. 
 Only think . of making a cat 
 into a god, and praying to it ! 
 
 But the silly Egyptians knew 
 no better, and had many false 
 gods, and perhaps pussy was as 
 good an idol as a block of wood 
 or stone, as neither could do 
 any good or hear any prayers 
 that might be offered to them. 
 
 So every family in Egypt 
 had its holy cat, and if any
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 151 
 
 accident happened, if the house 
 was on fire, the very first thing 
 the people thought of was their 
 precious cat. Till it was safe 
 no one else was thought of; the 
 little children were not of half 
 so much consequence, nor the 
 grown-up people either. 
 
 Much as we like our own 
 pussies, we certainly do not 
 think so much of them as this, 
 do we ? Oh no ! they are very 
 nice, useful pets, but we do not 
 love them as we do each other 
 not a quarter as much ; for 
 they cannot talk to 'us nor un- 
 derstand what we say to them,
 
 152 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 as our mammas and papas, 
 brothers and sisters do. 
 
 Still they can understand a 
 great deal, can they not ? They 
 know quite well if we are an- 
 gry or pleased with them, and 
 sometimes they almost seem to 
 understand the words we say. 
 
 A little child once had a kit- 
 ten which was a great pet of 
 his, and the two were never so 
 happy as when they were lying 
 on th hearthrug together, kit- 
 ty being clasped in its little 
 master's arms, with its head 
 pressed against his face. To 
 everybody else puss was very
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 153 
 
 cross, but to little Johnny it 
 was always gentle and loving; 
 and though other people often 
 got scratches and snarls, it 
 never hurt its little master. One 
 day, when a little brother was 
 at play with Johnny, the cat 
 being in the room, though not 
 joining in the game as it often 
 did, in the midst of their romps, 
 puss, who was quietly dosing 
 in a corner, was startled by 
 a loud scream from its little 
 friend. Thinking of course that 
 he must be very much hurt to 
 make such a noise, and that 
 his little playfellow must have
 
 154 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 done the mischief, the cat flew 
 in a great rage at Johnny's 
 brother, and would very likely 
 have hurt him a great deal, if 
 Johnny had not taken his part, 
 and somehow or other made 
 pussy understand that he had 
 not done any harm at all. 
 
 I have heard of another cat 
 that was just as unsociable, and 
 made friends with only one 
 person in the house, refusing to 
 take any notice of any one else. 
 It was called Lee Boo, and had 
 been found, when quite a little 
 kitten, in a hole in the garden 
 wall. It was a beautiful kit-
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 155 
 
 ten, with a very shiny black 
 coat ; and as soon as it was 
 brought into the house, it took 
 a great fancy to a lady who 
 was dressed in black : perhaps 
 it thought she must be a nice 
 person because she wore the 
 same colored clothes as it did. 
 I do riot know about that, but 
 ever after it seemed very fond 
 of her, and went with her to 
 every place that she visited. 
 
 Sometimes, when she had 
 been out t for a walk, and was 
 returning home, Lee Boo would 
 run half-way down the street 
 to meet her ; and when she was
 
 156 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ill, lie sat for hours outside the 
 bedroom door, trying to get in ; 
 and if he succeeded, he would 
 jump on the bed and lick his 
 mistress's hand, and purr as loud 
 as he could, to show his joy at 
 seeing* her again. 
 
 I daresay you are fond of lit- 
 tle kittens, and are very pleased 
 when you hear that Mrs. Puss 
 has got some little children 
 two, three, four, five, or perhaps 
 even six little children. But 
 you are not half so pleased 
 as puss is herself, for she is a 
 very good mother, and is very 
 fond of her little ones, and very
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 157 
 
 proud indeed of them too, some- 
 times. 
 
 A lady who lived in Edin- 
 burgh had a very handsome 
 cat which was very fond of her, 
 and had lived with her for 
 some time. After a while, how- 
 ever, puss was packed up in a 
 basket, and sent as a present 
 to a lady living at Glasgow, 
 who received her very kindly, 
 and took great care of her for 
 two months. Then there were 
 two little kittens borft, and as 
 puss was very busy taking care 
 of them, her mistress did not 
 watch her quite so much as she
 
 158 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 had before, for she thopght 
 there could be no fear of her 
 running away now. 
 
 But she was mistaken : after 
 a few days, the cat and her kit- 
 tens both vanished. They hunt- 
 ed everywhere for them ; but 
 they were gone, and nothing 
 was heard of them for a fort- 
 night. 
 
 At last, one day, her first mis- 
 tress, in Edinburgh, thought 
 she heard pussy's mew at the 
 street-dodr of her house ; and 
 when they opened the door 
 there she was, with both her 
 kittens, safe and sound. I sup-
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 159 
 
 pose she wanted to show her 
 pretty little children to her old 
 friend; and so she had taken 
 this long journey of forty-four 
 miles, carrying them all the way. 
 Of course they could not 
 walk, and she could not carry 
 them both at once ; so what do 
 you think she did ? Several 
 people saw her on the way; 
 and they said she carried one 
 kitten a little way, and then 
 set it down on the ground to 
 wait while she went back to 
 fetch the other ; and so she 
 must have walked a great deal 
 more than forty-four miles al-
 
 160 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 together. No wonder she looked 
 very tired and thin when she 
 reached her journey's end ; and 
 how she found her way, I am 
 sure I cannot tell you. 
 
 Was she not very persever- 
 ing and courageous ? And 
 should you not like to have 
 known such a wise, clever cat ? 
 But cats are always very bold 
 when their little ones are in 
 clanger, and I could tell you 
 many, many stories about cats 
 who fought for their children ; 
 yes, and got very much hurt in 
 defending them, too. 
 
 One bright summer day an
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 161 
 
 old cat had taken all her fam- 
 ily of kittens out for a walk, 
 near the stable which was their 
 home, thinking, I suppose, that 
 the warm sun and nice breeze 
 would do them good. 
 
 Now, they were all very hap- 
 py, never thin'king, what a ter- 
 rible enemy was near ; for fly- 
 ing high overhead there was a 
 great hawk, a cruel bird, that 
 lives on tiny birds and animals, 
 and is always on the lookout 
 to catch a chicken or a kitten 
 for his dinner. 
 
 Now, though neither the . 
 
 mother nor her children had 
 
 11
 
 162 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 seen him, he had seen them, 
 and was watching his opportu- 
 nity to pounce upon one of 
 them. At last down he came, 
 and had seized one of the kit- 
 tens, and was flying off with it 
 as fast as possible, when the 
 brave old mother sprang at the 
 cruel hawk, and began a fierce 
 battle for her little one. 
 
 The great bird soon found 
 that he could not defend him- 
 self and keep his prize too, so 
 dropping the poor bleeding kit- 
 ten, he turned with all , his 
 m might on the poor mother. The 
 battle was a terrible one ; but
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 163 
 
 puss came off victorious, leav- 
 ing her 'enemy dead on the 
 ground. Directly she saw that 
 he was dead, she forgot all 
 about her own wounds, and ran 
 to comfort her poor frightened 
 kitten, licking its sides, and 
 purring as if to soothe its fears, 
 and kissing it to make it well. 
 How those kittens ought to 
 have loved their mother, and 
 how good they ought to have 
 been ! But kittens, like little 
 children, are sometimes very 
 ungrateful to those who take 
 care of them, arid forget all the 
 care and love their mothers
 
 164 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 have shown them ever since 
 they were born ; and very like- 
 ly these little creatures soon 
 forgot their mamma's dreadful 
 battle with the cruel hawk, 
 and the many wounds she got 
 in defending them. 
 
 If so, you must not imitate 
 them, but always try and re- 
 member all the kindness your 
 mamma has shown to you, and 
 repay her in the only way you 
 can, by loving her, and doing 
 what she tells you. 
 
 Sometimes I think that cats 
 and little children are very 
 much alike ; they both like
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 165 
 
 vejy much to be petted, and 
 they both like very much to 
 have their own way ; and there 
 is another thing in which pussy 
 is like a little child. If there 
 is a great storm of thunder and 
 lightning, cats often seem very 
 much frightened, and do not 
 like to be alone; and I think 
 too that there are very few 
 children who would not rather 
 have somebody with them when 
 the peals of thunder and the 
 bright flashes of lightning are 
 making them feel rather afraid. 
 In a family, living in the 
 country, there were once two
 
 166 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 very great, friends, a cat and a 
 dog ; they eat out of the same 
 plate, and often sat close to- 
 gether on the same rug. 
 
 After a little while Mrs. Puss 
 had a family of little kittens to 
 take care of, and then she and 
 her charge were lodged in a 
 garret at the top of the house. 
 Of course she stayed most part 
 of the day with her little chil- 
 dren, and Pincher, as her friend 
 the dog was called, went up 
 every day to see them, and to 
 inquire how they were. 
 
 Well, one day there was a 
 terrible storm of thunder and
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 167 
 
 lightning, and both Pincher 
 and his friend were very much 
 frightened. The dog came and 
 stayed close to his mistress's 
 side in the drawing-room ; but 
 puss very much would have 
 liked to be there too, though 
 she could not leave her little 
 ones all alone in the garret; 
 for only think how terrified 
 they would have been at the 
 sound of the thunder, if their 
 mamma had not been there to 
 comfort them. 
 
 But after a little while puss 
 came down stairs and went up 
 to Pincher, looking up in his
 
 1G8 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 face and mewing most piteous- 
 ly. The dog took no notice, so 
 she stroked his paw, walked to 
 the door, and stood there mew- 
 ing, as much as to say, "Do 
 please come with me." Still 
 he would not move ; and after 
 trying to make him do as she 
 wished for some time, she gave 
 up in despair, and went up 
 stairs again. After a little 
 while her mistress, hearing her 
 mewing most dismally, went to 
 see what was the matter, and 
 then she found that the poor 
 old mother had been so fright- 
 ened at the flashes of lightning
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 109 
 
 which came in at the garret 
 window, that she had carried 
 one of her kittens down into a 
 bedroom, and put it into a 
 cupboard : and now she wanted 
 Pincher to take care of that 
 one while she went to fetch 
 the other. 
 
 Ifer mistress did not like to 
 leave the poor thing, as she 
 seemed so frightened, so she 
 stayed with her and her little 
 ones till the storm was over and 
 all was quite quiet again ; and 
 they quite forgot all about their 
 terror while she was with them, 
 and were as happy as they
 
 170 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 could be. The next morning, 
 however, the old cat seemed to 
 have remembered that she had 
 not thanked the lady for her 
 kindness in staying with them 
 the night before ; so she got up 
 early, and told her little ones 
 that they must do without her 
 for a little while, because she 
 must go down stairs to do some 
 business. I .suppose the dear 
 little kittens promised they 
 would be very good, and not 
 get into any mischief, or fight 
 and quarrel as they did some- 
 times, for when the lady came 
 out of her room to go down to
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 171 
 
 breakfast, she found Mrs. Puss 
 waiting for her, ready to say 
 Good-morning. 
 
 , But she had something more 
 to say than that ; she had come 
 down on purpose to thank her 
 mistress for her kindness the 
 night before, and so in a very 
 low and gentle voice she mewed 
 out how much obliged she was, 
 and how grateful she felt. But 
 then she was afraid that though 
 the lady was very clever, and 
 knew a great many things 
 much better than she did, yet 
 she might never have learned 
 cat language, and therefore,
 
 172 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 perhaps, did not understand 
 what she meant by all her 
 gentle, loving mews ; so she 
 tried to show by rubbing her- 
 self against her, and by purring 
 with all her might, that she 
 had not forgotten how kind she 
 had been to her the night be- 
 fore. And then she followed her 
 down stairs to breakfast, and 
 stayed there till she thought 
 her mistress quite understood 
 what she meant ; and then she 
 went back to her kittens quite 
 satisfied. 
 
 It is very pleasant to think 
 that even cats know when we
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 173 
 
 try to make them happy, and 
 that they are grateful for our 
 kindness, and try to show that 
 they are so by their loving 
 ways. 
 
 One more story about a cat, 
 and then I must stop, for you 
 must be quite tired, I am sure. 
 This pussy lived in a convent 
 in France, a place where nuns 
 live, and where everything is 
 very quiet and still. No one 
 played with her, nobody took 
 any notice of her, and some- 
 times, I think, she must have 
 found it very dull. 
 
 Now it happened that at din-
 
 174 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 ner-time in the convent a great 
 bell was always rung, and all 
 the nuns went into a large hall 
 and dined together; and when 
 pussy heard it go ding, dong, 
 she ran off too, as fast as her 
 legs would carry her, to the 
 same great hall, where she 
 found her food put ready for 
 her in one corner. 
 
 I think she must have been 
 very pleased when she heard 
 the dinner-bell, for it gave her 
 something to do ; and, poor 
 thing, she must have often 
 wanted something to do, and 
 some change, for I do not think
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 175 
 
 that even cats like to live all 
 their lives izi the same place, 
 with no one to talk to them, 
 and no one to notice them. 
 
 Well, one day it happened 
 that when the bell for which 
 pussy listened so eagerly was 
 rung, she was shut up in a 
 room at the top of the house, 
 and could not get out to go 
 down to her dinner. She 
 scratched the door, and whined 
 and mewed most piteously ; but 
 it was no use, and for some 
 hours no one thought of her, 
 or found out that she had not 
 had her dinner. At last, to her
 
 176 LITTLE AXIMALS. 
 
 
 
 great joy, the door opened, and 
 she was free. Down stairs she 
 ran, straight to the corner 
 where her dinner was usually 
 placed; but no plate with its 
 nice heap of scraps of meat was 
 to be seen. Poor pussy ! how 
 hungry she felt ! What was 
 she to do ? Must she really 
 wait till the next day before 
 she had anything to eat ? 
 Would nobody take pity on 
 her? 
 
 No; no one seemed to be 
 thinking about her ; everybody 
 else had had dinner, and little 
 thought how hungry and faint
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 177 
 
 the poor cat felt ; but we often 
 say that where there's a will 
 there's a way, and as pussy cer- 
 tainly had the will, in a little 
 while she found out the way to 
 get what she wanted. 
 
 All at once, on that quiet af- 
 ternoon, in the old French con- 
 vent the nuns heard the great 
 dinner-bell begin to ring : slow- 
 ly and gently it went, as if a 
 very weak hand was pulling 
 the rope ; but still it rang on. 
 What could it be ringing for at 
 that time of the ddy? Some- 
 thing must be the matter, and 
 so they all ran to see what it 
 
 12
 
 178 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 was. And what did they find, 
 do you think ? Why, they 
 found Mrs. Puss hanging to 
 the bell-rope, and pulling away, 
 as if ringing the bell would 
 make her dinner come. 
 
 And so it did, for the nuns 
 saw at once what it was she 
 wanted, and pussy got a good 
 meal for her pains. You see 
 she had always heard the bell 
 ring at dinner-time, and so 
 thought, of course, that it had 
 something to do with her get- 
 ting her food; and as she had 
 been out of the way when it 
 rang before, she thought she
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 179 
 
 would try what pulling it 
 again would do. 
 
 I said I would only tell you 
 one more story ; but talking of 
 pussy ringing the bell puts me 
 in mind of another, which, as 
 it is very short and funny, I 
 will tell you. This cat did not 
 live in a convent; her home 
 was in the kitchen of a gentle- 
 man's house, and her great 
 friend was the cook. Now, 
 Mrs. Cook was very fond of 
 pussy, and very kind to her; 
 but sometimes pussy seemed 
 to think she would rather be 
 alone in the kitchen ; for, if the
 
 180 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 truth must be told, she was a 
 sad thief, and liked to be left 
 by herself, that she might help 
 herself to the good things in 
 the kitchen and pantry. 
 
 Now, she had found out that 
 when a certain bell rang the 
 cook went out of the room for 
 a little while, and then she 
 could have a nice feast. But 
 this bell did not ring quite so 
 often as pussy wished ; and she 
 began to think whether she 
 could not make it ring some- 
 times herself. So one clay the 
 cook found that the bell called 
 her to the door very often
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS. 181 
 
 when there was nobody there ; 
 and she thought it very strange, 
 and wondered very much what 
 was the reason it rang so often. 
 Just while she was wondering 
 she heard it again, and thought 
 she would look at it before she 
 went to the door. She did so, 
 and what was her surprise when 
 she found Mrs. Puss underneath 
 the bell, every now and then 
 giving a spring and shaking 
 the wire so as to set it going to 
 her heart's content. 
 
 But now it is time for you 
 to say good-by to our little an- 
 imals, and for me to say good-
 
 182 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 by to my little readers ; but 
 before I do so I want to re- 
 mind you of the text with 
 which we began this little book. 
 You remember what it was, I 
 daresay ; you remember that it 
 tells us that no little bird is 
 forgotten by our heavenly Fa- 
 ther, however small it may be ; 
 and I hope you have not for- 
 gotten r too, how often we have 
 noticed God's great love and 
 care for the tiny animals we 
 have been talking about. Well, 
 and if he cares so much, and 
 thinks so much about these 
 little animals whose lives are
 
 DEAR OLD PUSS 183 
 
 so short, do you not think he 
 must care a great deal more 
 about little children who have 
 souls that will live forever, 
 either in heaven or hell ? Yes, 
 the Bible tells us we are of 
 more value than many spar- 
 rows ; and as God has given to 
 the little animals and birds 
 their daily food just when they 
 want it, so he has given to us 
 not only all we have need of for 
 our bodies, but Jesus Christ to 
 save our souls. You know this, 
 do you not? Then are you 
 not very thankful to God for 
 all his goodness to you? and,
 
 * 
 
 184 LITTLE ANIMALS. 
 
 if so, how do you try to show 
 that you are thankful ? 
 
 The little animals do not 
 know who it is that sends them 
 all their food, and all they 
 want ; and yet they are always 
 active and industrious, doing 
 what God has given them to 
 do. Are you as busy as they ? 
 Are you trying, like the little 
 squirrel, to gather together a 
 nice little store for the time to 
 come, a store of knowledge for 
 this world and for the world to 
 come ? That is the part of the 
 work that God has given you 
 to do : will you not try and do it ?
 
 SHELDON & COMPANY'S 
 IBYSSI&K BMKS. 
 
 
 ffte Harlie Stories. By JACOB ABBOTT. With Dta* 
 
 trations, from Designs by JOHN GILBEBT. 
 6 Tola. Price, per vol., 50 cents. 
 Printed in very large type, for young children. 
 
 "Those stories lire all told In Mr. Abbott'* best style, and we mMt ^ 
 irable productions.' 1 Sunday School Time*. 
 
 The Hollo BooJis. By JACOB ABBOTT. 
 
 Hollo Learning to Walk. Hollo's Muse*n. 
 
 . Rollo Learning to Read. Hollo's Travels- 
 
 Rollo at Work. Hollo's Corresp^ndeneau 
 Rollo at Play. &c., &c. 
 
 14 vols. Illustrated. Uniform style 16mo. Clotk 
 Price, $12 60. 
 
 14 vols. Uniform style. ISmo". pheap edition. Cloth, 
 t>rice, $8 75. 
 
 Among the multitude of books that have been written fol 
 *hildren, none have been more extensively read, and solid 
 enjoyment derived from them, than this series of books. 
 We can remember with what delight we read them in our 
 shildhood. To the children of to-day we would Bay. Be su* 
 ad rwtd thorn ; they will botltiinterest and instruct you
 
 2 BHKLDOX It OOKPAirrS JUVEXILB, BOOK*. 
 
 17 Oakland Stories. By GEORGE B. TAYLOR. \Vitk 
 Illustrations from Designs by H. W. HERRICK and 
 others, 16mo. Cloth. Price, $3.60. 
 
 Kenny. Claiborne. 
 
 Cousin Guy. Gustavo. 
 
 While In general this story resemble* Mr. Abbott's, it Is soperior t 
 tome <>t that author's later work*. It is marked by his beet ch.iracteristies 
 the easy, natural dialogue, wholesome, nionil, ami religions tone, and 
 simple, explanatory style, without being tiresome in repetition. It de- 
 scribes homo scenes and suggests borne amusements. 'Kenny tt seve 
 years old, and for children from seven to twelve, this story is both plea- 
 ing and instructive.'' Button Journal. 
 
 Tlte Cottage Library. By PETSR PARLEY (S. Cf. 
 Goodrich), 12 vols. 18mo. Price, $7 50. 
 
 There are few persons who have not read with unbounded delight 
 more or less of the books written by Peter Parley, alias 9. G Goodrich, 
 Perhaps no man boa ever furnished .more instructive and 
 ur young people than h." Christian Era. 
 
 The Geldart Series. Sir choice volumes. By Mi 
 THOMAS GELDART. With Illustrations from Design* 
 by JOHN GILBERT. 16aa Price, $3 60 
 
 Daily Thoughts of a Chili Emilie the Peacemaker 
 Truth is Everything. Sunday Evening Thought* 
 
 Sunday Morning Thoughts, btories of Scotland. 
 
 " What children rrail they often lontr retain ; therefore it Js d*lraM 
 Aat their books should be of a high moral tone. In this rexpect Mrs. 
 Unldart has few equals as an author ; and we hope thnt this eii* will U 
 every cUld's libr^y." Werctittr / aUadivm.
 
 Bookt Published by Sheldon & Co. 
 PETER PARLEY'S OWN STORY. 
 
 Prom the Personal Narrative of the late SAMUEL G. QOOM 
 MH (Peter Parley). 
 
 1 voL 16mo, illustrated, price $1.25. 
 
 CHILDREN'S SAYINGS; 
 
 OR, EAELY LIFE AT HOME. 
 
 By CAROUNB HADLET. With Illustrations, by WALTS* 
 CKAMK. 
 
 1 voL square 16mo, price 9C cents. 
 
 STORIES OF OLD. 
 OLD TESTAMENT SERIK1. 
 
 By CAROLINE HADLET. 
 1 voL 12mo, Illustrated, price $L25. 
 
 STORIES OF OLD. 
 
 KW TESTAMENT SERIES. 
 
 By CAROLINE HADLET. 
 1 voL 12mo, Illustrated, price $1.25. 
 
 ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL. 
 
 A series of volumes containing Rose Morton's Journal for (k^ 
 iereral mouths of the year. 
 
 Each volume Illustrated, 18mo, 45 cents. 
 There are now ready, 
 
 ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR JANUARY. 
 ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR FEBRUART. 
 ROPE MOP70VS JOURNAL FOR MARCH. 
 ROSE MORTON'S JOURNAL FOR APRIL, 
 MORTON'S JOURNAL TOR MAY.
 
 Books Published by Sheldon t& Co. 
 
 THE ROLLO STORY BOOKS. 
 By JACOB ABBOTT. 
 
 Trouble on the Mountain, 
 
 Causey Building, 
 
 Apple Gathering, 
 
 -.le Two Wheelbarrows, 
 
 Blueberryiug, 
 
 The Freshet, 
 
 Georgie, 
 Kollo in 
 Hollo's Garden, 
 The Steeple Trajv 
 Labor Lost, 
 Lucy's Visit. 
 
 12 vols. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, per Bet, $4.59 
 
 THE FLORENCE STORIES. 
 
 By JACOB ABBOTT. 
 
 Tol 1. Florence and John. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 VoL 2. Grimkie. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 Vol. 3. The Isle of Wight. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 Vol. 4. The Orkney Islands. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 Vol. 5. The English Channel. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated 
 VoL 6 x Florence's Return. 18mo. Cloth. Illustrated. 
 Price of each volume $1.00. 
 
 from the Boston Journal. 
 
 "Mr. Abbott li always an entertaining writer for the young, and thta 
 Ikory seems to us to contain more that is really suggestive and instructive 
 fran other of his recent productions. Florence and John are children wlia 
 pursue their studies at home, under the care of their mother, and in th 
 progress of the tale many useful hints are given in regard to home in- 
 struction. The main educational idea which runs through all Mr. 
 Abbot I'd works, that of developing the capacities of children BO a* M) 
 taake taua self-reliant, is conspicuous in this.'* 
 
 From the New York Obterver. 
 
 "Mr. Abbott is known to be a pure, successful and useful writer for U* 
 f*ng and old. He is also the most popular author of juvenile book* 
 
 from the Ballon Traveler. 
 
 "No writer of children*! book*, not even the renowned Fetor 
 few * bwn to i amMful u Abbott."
 
 jBoeJcS Published by Sheldon t Company 
 
 ITKY7 JUYBITILB BOOKS," 
 
 To be ready early in the coming FM. 
 
 A NEW SERIES BY AUNT FANNY, 
 
 Author of " Nightcap," " Mitten," and " Pet Booki. 1 * 
 
 THE POP-GUN STORIES. 
 
 In 6 vols. 16mo., beautifully illustrated. ( 
 
 I. POP-GUNS. 
 II. OXE BIG POP-GUK 
 III. ALL SORTS OP FOP-GUSTS. 
 IV.FUNNY POP-GUNS. 
 Y. GRASSHOPPER POP-GUNS. 
 YL POST-OFFICE POP-GUNS. 
 
 Aunt Fanny is one of the most successful writers for obfldrwi 
 In this country, as is attested by the very wide sale her pre- 
 vious books have had, and we foel sure that the mere announce- 
 ment of this new series will attract tho attention of her host al 
 kduiirers. 
 
 A NEW SERIES BY T. S. ARTHUR, 
 
 Author of " Household Library," and " Arthur's Juvanil* 
 Library." 
 
 H.OME STORIES. 
 
 3 vols., IGmo., fully iUustraUd. 
 
 LIST OF VOLUMES. 
 HIDDEN WINGS. 
 BOWING THE W7XD. 
 SUNSHINE AT HOME. 
 
 Th nme of this Author is a sufficient Guarantee of th* n 
 eellcuco of the Series.
 
 Jtooks Published by Sheldon d Co. 
 
 THE BRIGHTHOPE SERIES. 
 
 By J. T. TROWBRIDOB. 
 
 The Old Battle Ground, 
 Father Brighthope, 
 
 Iron Thorpe, 
 Burr CM. 
 
 Heai is and .Faces. 
 6 Yols- 18mo, in cloth, gilt back, uniform. Prio $1 ou 
 
 From the Boston Transcript. 
 
 " Mr. Trowbrfdge has never written anything that was not popular, an I 
 each new work has added to his fame. He has a wonderful faculty at 
 ft portraver of New nglaud characteristics, and New England eceut*." 
 From the Salem. Register. 
 
 "Mr. Trowbridge will find many welcomersto the field of anthorshlf 
 I ofUn a* he chooser to enter it, and 'o leave as pleasant a record behind 
 him aa th story of " t ather finghthope." The " Old Battle Ground" i 
 worthy of his reputation as one of the very bent portrayen of K*w Cn^ 
 lead character and describers of Xe\v Eugland i 
 
 THE GELDART SERIES. 
 
 By Mrs. THOMAS GELDART. 
 
 6 Tola. 16mo. Illustrated by JOHN GlLBJCtfc 
 
 Price of each 60 cents. 
 
 Daily Thoughts for a Child, 
 Truth is Everything, 
 Sunday .Morning Thoughts, 
 
 Sunday Evening Thongnt^ 
 Emilie the 1'eaoemaji.er. 
 cotland 
 
 From the Boston Register. 
 
 " These charging volumes are the much admired Geldart Series of 
 books for tbe young, which have established a very enviable repuUtion 
 la England for their wholesome moral tendency. They are beautifully 
 printed 16mo volumes, with gilt backs, and are sold at 50 cent eacb. 
 l"hore are five volumes in the scries, and they will form a rery choios ad' 
 iiliou to a youth's library." 
 
 From tht Worcester Palladium. 
 
 " What children read they often long retain; therefore it is dcstrahlt 
 that thttlr books should be of a high moral tone. In skis respect Mrs. 
 Guldart has few equals as an author, aud we hope that her works wii l^ 
 found iu orr/ oliUJ's library."
 
 Books Publis7ied by Sheldon & Company. 
 
 HOLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. 
 
 BY JACOB ABBOTT, 
 
 iatiior f U "Roilo Books," " Florence Stories," " AmerioM 
 Histories," &c., ic. 
 
 OEDEK OF THE VOLUMES. 
 
 HOLLO OX THE ATLANTIC. 
 HOLLO IN PARIS. 
 HOLLO IN SWITZERLAND. 
 HOLLO IN LONDON. 
 HOLLO ON THE RHINE. 
 HOLLO IN SCOTLAND. 
 HOLLO IN GENEVA. 
 HOLLO IN HOLLAND. 
 HOLLO IN NAPLES. 
 HOLLO IN ROME. - 
 
 Each, volume fully illustrated. 
 Price per vol., 90 cents. 
 
 Mr. Abbott is the most successful writer of books lor too 
 young in this, or perhaps, any other country. " HOLLO'S Toum 
 IN EUROPE," is by far the greatest success of any of Mr. 
 Abbott's works. 
 
 From the New York Observer. 
 
 " Mi. Abbott is known to be a pure, successful and useful 
 writer for the young and old. He is also the most popular 
 Author of juvenile books now living."
 
 Books Published by Sheldon efc Company. 
 
 ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE. 
 
 BY JACOB ABBOTT, 
 
 A-Qthor of tho " Hollo Books," " Florence Stories," " Amerfear 
 Histories," &c., ic. 
 
 ORDER OP THE VOLUMES. 
 
 HOLLO ON THE ATLANTIC. 
 HOLLO IX PARIS. 
 EOLLO IN SWITZERLAND. 
 HOLLO IN LONDON. 
 EOLLO ON THE RHINE. 
 EOLLO IN SCOTLAND. 
 EOLLO IN GENEVA. 
 EOLLO IN HOLLAND. 
 EOLLO IN NAPLES. 
 EOLLO IN ROME. 
 
 Kacli volume fully illustrated* 
 Price per vol., 90 cents. 
 
 Mr. Abbott is the most successful writer of books for tha 
 youri ra this, or perhaps, any other country. " ROILO'S Tour 
 IN EUHOPE," is by far the greatest success of any of ilr. 
 Abbott's works. 
 
 From the New York Observer. 
 
 * Mr. Abbott is known to be a pure, successful antf useful 
 writer for the young and old. Ho id also the moet popultf 
 Author of juvenile books now living."
 
 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 MM 2 8 
 
 JIM 1 8 
 
 MAR 171981 
 
 3m-8,'49(B 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 The Dove 
 
 animals 
 
 8 1951 
 
 QL 
 
 791 
 
 L72 
 
 111 
 
 L72 W\ 000479237
 
 i