troubles go in flocks and luck in streaks, is well known in
Slumland. Kitty had had three encounters with Dogs, and had been
stoned by Malee's negro during a two days' starve. Then the tide
turned. The very next morning she found a full milk-can without a
lid, successfully robbed a barrow pensioner, and found a big
fish-head, all within two hours. She had just returned with that
perfect peace which comes only of a full stomach, when she saw a
little brown creature in her junk-yard. Hunting memories came
back in strength; she didn't know what it was, but she had killed
and eaten several Mice, and this was evidently a big Mouse with
bob-tail and large ears. Kitty stalked it with elaborate but
unnecessary caution; the little Rabbit simply sat up and looked
faintly amused. He did not try to run, and Kitty sprang on him
and bore him off. As she was not hungry, she carried him to the
cracker-box and dropped him among the Kittens. He was not much
hurt. He got over his fright, and since he could not get out of
the box, he snuggled among the Kittens, and when they began to
take their evening meal he very soon decided to join them. The
old Cat was puzzled. The hunter instinct had been dominant, but
absence of hunger had saved the Rabbit and given the maternal
instinct a chance to appear. The result was that the Rabbit
became a member of the family, and was thenceforth guarded and
fed with the Kittens.

Two weeks went by. The Kittens romped much among the boxes during
their mother's absence. The Rabbit could not get out of the box.
Jap Malee, seeing the Kittens about the back yard, told the negro
to shoot them. This he was doing one morning with a 22-calibre
rifle. He had shot one after another and seen them drop from
sight into the crannies of the lumber-pile, when the old Cat came