fancy for cats. He resolved, at the Christmas season, to gratify
this taste of hers, as well as his own love of all sorts of
vagaries.

Christmas fell on Monday. On that morning, the young lady received
an elegant package which contained, wrapped up in seven papers,
carefully sealed, a picture of a great black cat, with fiery eyes,
long whiskers, and a flaming red tongue, The young lady was a good
deal astonished, you may believe.

The next morning, she found in her breakfast cup the prettiest
little sugar cat you can imagine. She asked all the family who had
played her the trick, but no one knew.

On Wednesday morning, when the house-maid opened the window to sweep
the drawing room, as she always did at seven o'clock, a small, soft
bundle came flying in at the window, and fell in the middle of the
floor. The bundle was directed to Miss Mary, and contained a large
rag cat, with a painted face, and with little bunches gathered up
for nose and ears.

Inquiries were in vain. No one had seen the daring hand that tossed
the rag pussy into the window. The lady's suspicions did not fall
upon the Italian, because he had made her think that he was out of
town.

Early on Thursday morning, came a great double knock and ring at the
house door. So loud and long was the noise that the servant, a
little, scary old man, thought the house was coming down. With
trembling hand, he opened the door, when a black man, six feet high,