starve. Am I to lie here and listen to the screaming of hungry
babies? No, thank you! Come in, little wasp!"

"It will sting you!" shrieked the old dame.

"No, indeed it won't. It only stings the wicked."

The window was open now. A big hornet, as large as a pigeon's egg,
flew in; buzzing like a bass string, it flew at once to the nest.
And then it was still.

The old dame left the attic, and the pilot got between the sheets.

When he came downstairs into the parlour on the following morning,
the old dame was not there. A black cat sat on the only chair and
purred; cats have been condemned to purr, because they are such
lazy beasts, and they must do something.

"Get up, pussy," said the pilot, "and let me sit down."

And he took the cat and put it on the hearth. But it was no
ordinary cat, for immediately sparks began to fly from its fur,
and the chips caught file.

"If you can light a fire, you can make me some coffee," said the
pilot.

But the cat is so constituted that it never wants to do what it
is told, and so it began at once to swear and spit until the fire
was out.