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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1869, by J. W. Burkr & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia.
Vol. Ill — No. 17.
11 DAINTY.”
if HIS is surely not a common
kitty,” said little Bob Tolman,
& r as he entered the cottage, and
brushed the snow from his hat and coat.
“ See, Em ; see what I’ve brought you.”
“Oh! that is a beauty!” cried the
little girl, springing to catch the kitten,
that ran nimbly from point to point,
evidently quite frightened. “ Mamma,
may I get her some milk ? Oh, what a
soft, gray fur!”
“ I think it is a Maltese,” said the
mother, stooping down, now Emma had
caught it. “ Poor thing! how it trem
bles! Where did you find it, my son?”
“ Down on the corner, in a bare spot
under the fence. I heard something
crying quite pitifully and faint, so I went
searching with my little lantern, and
there she was. She didn’t move a bit,
just as if she knew I had come to rescue
her from the cold; and I guess she
would have died before morning, poor
pussy —poor little pussy !”
Little Emma’s face fairly shone when
she found that the kitten could play, and
in the full light saw" what a lovely little
thing it was. Its coat was of the softest,
most beautiful fur —a sort of silvery
gray in color, and its eyes were large
and very bright. Emma called them
stone-blue.
Forthwith the children began to make
plans for their darling.
“ You know my old play house?” said
Emma; “ well, all the furniture is bro
ken, and the dolls are old, and don’t
need it now. Besides, lam getting too
large to play w'ith dolls ; I’d much ra
ther have this dainty little kitten. Well,
we’ll get a nice bit of carpet from mam
ma, and put it on the floor of the old
baby-house, and wont it be beautiful for
kitty?”
“And in summer,”said Bob, eagerly,
“ we can put the house out in the yard,
and I’ll make a real little garden at the
side. Jimmy Davis has one for his dog,
but the dog is not near as handsome as
this pretty kitty.”
So kitty had found a pleasant home,
MACON, GEORGIA, OCTOBER 23, 1869.
and after the first few days, the strange
ness wore off, and she seemed to feel
quite at her ease. She was really a val
uable cat, and the pretty blue ribbon
they had taken, wet and draggled, from
her neck, proved that she had, in her
former home, been the pet of some
child. Bob made a few inquiries, but
he did not go very far ; if he had, he
might not have missed the home of poor
Jenny Douglas.
To be sure it w r as almost out of sight,
down a long and narrow lane, that, in
summer, was full of roses, and soft with
grass. The great branehing-elms twined
their slender hands together over head,
and made quite a beautiful bower. No
one could have thought there was a cot
tage at the end, but there w r as, and it
could be more plainly seen this cold,
winter weather. A little place that had
never been painted or even white-wash
ed ; so that if it had not been for the
climbing honeysuckles and large prairie
rosebush, it would not have been a pret
ty place. It looked quite dreary and
bleak in winter, without; but within was
not only comfort, but taste.
A widow lived there, with her con
sumptive little daughter.
Jenny Douglas was not yet ten years
j old, but young as she w r as, sickness was
| wasting her feeble strength, and bring-
ing her down to the grave. Her moth
er was but little known in this country *
place, but it was whispered about that j
she had some rich relations, who came I
to see her once in a great while, and j
they had brought the pretty things that !
surrounded little Jenny Douglas. The i
easy chair that she seldom left, poor j
child, was one of their gifts ; so were
the beautiful toys-that she w r as not often
well enough to play with ; and the hand
some square of soft Turkey carpet al
ways at her feet.
Unusually lovely was this sickly little
girl. Her hair, w hich grew far too fast,
Whole No. 121.
hung in wavy curls almost to her waist,
and was a soft, gleaming yellow. Her
cheeks were crimson ; her skin as white
as the smoothest marble, but her beauty
did not keep off the terrible disease.
The sun came in, that winter morn
ing, making the child's glittering locks
shine like gold. The two had eaten
their breakfast, and the child, who al
ways seemed brighter in the morning,
called for Dainty’s saucer. Her mother
brought it a pretty china dish, very old
and cracked, but quite good enough for
Dainty, Jenny said.
Then the two called Dainty, but to
their surprise, when they opened the
door of the little closet where she slept,
behold thpre was no Dainty there.
“Mamina, she must be up stairs,
then,” said Jenny. “ Perhaps she slip
ped by when you went up to bed.”
So mamma hurried up stairs, but
there was no Dainty there. Then she
searched the cellar and the yard, but
the beautiful kitten was nowhere to be
seen.
“Oh, mamma!” cried Jenny, with
grieving lips, “ Dainty is lost!”
“ I guess we shall find her,” said her
mother, cheerfully, “she must be hid
den somewhere in the house, perhaps
because it is so cold. Wait a little.”
“I loved her better than anything I’ve
got, mother and Jenny, who was too
weak and sick to bear much disappoint
ment, burst into tears. Her mother
comforted her as well as she w r as able.
But a whole week passed, and Dainty
wms not y T et found. Jenny had mourn
ed for her beautiful pet, and sometimes
almost refused comfort.
One day, w r hen her mother had gone
out, the thought of Dainty made her
very miserable.
“I know it’s wicked,” she said to
herself, “to worry so much about a kit
ten, but it makes me sad to think that
perhaps poor Dainty went off and got
quite frozen to death. Poor darling!
how she must have suffered that bitter
cold night! If I only knew that some
body had her who would care for her, I
shouldn’t be so unhappy about it. I
wonder,” she mused on, “if God can