sun sets.'

'This is the easiest thing I have been set to do,' thought the girl,
who was a good spinner. But when she began she found that the skein
tangled and broke every moment.

'Oh, I can never do it!' she cried at last, and leaned her head against
the loom and wept; but at that instant the door opened, and there
entered, one behind another, a procession of cats.

'What is the matter, fair maiden?' asked they. And the girl answered:

'My mistress has given me this yarn to weave into a piece of cloth,
which must be finished by sunset, and I have not even begun yet, for
the yarn breaks whenever I touch it.'

'If that is all, dry your eyes,' said the cats; 'we will manage it for
you.' And they jumped on the loom, and wove so fast and so skilfully
that in a very short time the cloth was ready and was as fine as any
king ever wore. The girl was so delighted at the sight of it that she
gave each cat a kiss on his forehead as they left the room behind one
the other as they had come.

'Who has taught you this wisdom?' asked the old woman, after she had
passed her hands twice or thrice over the cloth and could find no
roughness anywhere. But the girl only smiled and did not answer. She
had learned early the value of silence.

After a few weeks the old woman sent for her maid and told her that as
her year of service was now up, she was free to return home, but that,