The Tale of a Black Cat

O NCE there was a little boy named Tommy; and there's a

That stands for Tommy.

Tommy's house was not a very good one. So he built a new wall on this side of it.

And then he built a new wall on that side of it.

You can see now that he had two nice rooms in his house, though not very large. Next he put in windows to look out of—one in this room—

and one in that room.

Then he made a tall chimney on this side of his house.

And then he made a tall chimney on the other side of his house.

After that he started some grass beside his door, like this.

Not far away from Tommy's house lived a little girl named Sally;

and there's an

That stands for Sally.

When Tommy had finished his house he thought he would like to go and tell Sally what he had been doing,

so he came out of his door and walked along, this way, over to where she lived.

Sally was glad to see him, and he went into the kitchen and sat down and explained to her how he had built two new walls to his house and put in windows and made two tall chimneys, and how he had started the grass in front of his door. "And now, Sally," said he, "I want you to come over and see how well I've fixed things."

"I'll put on my bonnet and go right back with you," said Sally; but when she was ready to start she said, "We might go down cellar first and get some apples to eat on the way."

So they went down cellar, like this.

They got some apples, and then they came up outdoors by the hatchway, like this.

Now they started for Tommy's house, but the walking was bad, and they had gone only a few steps when they tumbled down, like this.

However, they were quickly up, like this.

And they walked along until they were nearly to Tommy's house when they tumbled down again, like this.

And they were no sooner up on their feet, like this,

than they tumbled down once more, like this.

But they were nearly to Tommy's house now, and they got up and were going into the yard straight toward the door, like this,

—when Sally pointed toward the doorstep and cried out, "O-o-o-o-o-o-oh! See that big BLACK CAT!"