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PUSS AND HER KITTEN.

OUR Old Puss, Minnie, had five black and white kittens; but although they were all black and white, they were all different. One had a black coat and white boots; another had a white coat and black boots and a black tail; the third was all black except one little white spot on its forehead; the fourth had two white boots and two black boots, a black tail and a white face; and the fifth was a lovely little creature, all white except the very tip of its tail. We used often to go and take one of the kittens out of the basket where they all lay huddled together, and carry it with us into the drawing-room to be admired; but, whenever we did so, old Minnie was in great trouble, and she would follow us into the room and watch jealously as we handed the kitten from one to another, and on the first opportunity she would seize it up in her mouth and run away to the basket and put it on the top of its brothers and sisters, and then sit down and purr.

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THE RAIN.

THE rain is pouring, is pouring down,
It rains in the country, it rains in the town,
It rains in the valley, it rains on the plain,
On the hot dry fields, and the ocean main.

It rains in the street, it rains on the man,
It rains on the pots, it rains in the can;
It rains upon Margie standing there,
On Pussy's long tail, and on Dolly's soft hair.

It rains in the garden on flower-beds,
And the drooping flowers lift up their heads,
And say "Please, Rain, rain down on me,
For I am as thirsty as I can be."

Still the rain comes pouring, pouring down,
The rain in the country, the rain in the town;
But the fainting earth drinks up all the rain,
And then gives it back to the clouds again.

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THE WAPITI.

THE Wapiti is a kind of deer that is found in North America. It is larger than the deer we have in this country, and the shape of its horns is somewhat different. The way the Indians hunt these deer is very curious. A man goes out carrying a large branch of a tree, and the dried head and horns of a Wapiti which he has formerly shot. He then creeps up as near as he can to where a herd of the deer are feeding. The timid creatures are alarmed at the noise, and look round to see what it is, preparatory to running away; but the cunning Indian hides himself behind his branch, and just sticks the dried head he has with him out of it. The poor deer are thus taken in, for they think it is only one of themselves hiding behind a bush, and so the hunter is able to take a good aim at the finest Wapiti of the herd. These deer are very fond of salt, and are often found in saltmarshes licking the salt off the ground.

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