Our Pets   By: Anonymous

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,

LONDON AND NEW YORK.

Kronheim & Co., London.

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OUR PETS.

This is Pol ly's own cat, Top sy. She looks ve ry prim and quiet; but if you play with her, you will find she is a ve ry mer ry lit tle cat. She will jump up on the ta ble at break fast, and run off with Pol ly's toast; and if mam ma be wri ting a let ter, Top sy will steal soft ly a long the arm of the so fa, and rub her paw o ver the last word mam ma has writ ten, and make a great blot in the let ter. Some times she will sit as still as a mouse on Un cle Tom's shoul der while he is read ing, and look so grave ly on the book that you might think she was read ing too: but she is not quite wise e nough for that.

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Car lo is Har ry's dog, and a ve ry good dog he is. If you were to throw a stone twen ty times in to the foam ing sea, Car lo would plunge in, with out a ny fear, and bring the ve ry same stone out to you. And if Har ry loses his ball a mong the long grass, Car lo brings it in a mi nute. And he can do bet ter things than these, for one day in win ter, when the ri ver was fro zen, and Har ry was ska ting on it ve ry nice ly, he came to a place where the ice was thin, for a hole had been bro ken the day before, and there had not been time for it to get hard a gain. Poor Har ry broke through the ice and sank down in to the wa ter; he would have been drown ed, but Car lo di ved down, and brought him out safe. No won der Car lo is a pet.

These pi geons be long to lit tle Pol ly. They have a ve ry pret ty house to live in, and Pol ly feeds them e ve ry morn ing with bar ley or peas. When they see her come with her lit tle bas ket, they all fly down from the roof of the dove cot, and will hop round her, perch on her should er, and eat from her hand. But if they see Top sy steal ing un der the Trees, or Car lo run ning o ver the grass plot, a way they all fly. The Pi geons trust Pol ly, but they will not trust sly puss, nor rough Car lo. Pret ty, shy pets, are Pol ly's pi geons.

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Rab bits are pret ty mild crea tures. Some times they live on moors, where they hide in bur rows, which are holes in the ground, then they run about the fields and eat the green corn, and tur nip tops, and some times in win ter are ve ry hun gry. But Har ry's tame rab bits have a warm house, and plen ty of clean straw, and fresh food e ve ry day, and are as well off as rab bits can be that are in pri son. Har ry goes in to the fields to pick clo ver and rib grass for them, the gar den er gives him let tuce and cab bage leaves; and he some times gives them dry corn, for he likes them to have a change of food. The large, fine old rab bit is call ed Bun ny. She is a great pet.

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You see here Pol ly and her Pet lamb. The mo ther died in the cold wet wea ther in spring, and the poor lit tle lamb would have died too, but it was brought in to the house and gi ven to Pol ly, who fed it with warm milk through the spout of her doll's tea pot e ve ry day, till it grew so big that she used to bring it grass to eat. Pol ly call ed her pet lamb Nan, and there nev er was such a pet lamb. It fol low ed Pol ly up stairs to the nur se ry, and down to the school room, and round the fields when she walk ed out; and Pol ly said, "If Nan did grow to be a great sheep, she should nev er be kill ed for mut ton."

Lit tle Pol ly went e ve ry morn ing to the Poul try yard to see the Poul try wo man feed the fowls. Her mam ma had gi ven her a Cock and a Hen, and a fine brood of chickens, to be her own. She fed them her self, and they were al ways rea dy to come round her when they heard her say, Chuck! chuck! Pol ly was nev er a fraid of the fine, bold Cock, even when he crow ed so loud ly that you might have heard him a mile off. He was ve ry fierce if a ny o ther cock came near his fa mi ly, but he was quite tame with Pol ly, and bow ed like a gen tle man when she gave him his bar ley.

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ROUTLEDGE'S

THREEPENNY TOY BOOKS,

WITH SIX COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS, PRINTED BY KRONHEIM & CO.

5. MY FIRST ALPHABET 6. MOTHER GOOSE 7. THE BABES IN THE WOOD 8. THIS LITTLE PIG 9. THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE 10. LITTLE BO PEEP 11. NURSERY RHYMES 12. FARM YARD ALPHABET 13. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 14. JOHN GILPIN 15. OLD MOTHER HUBBARD 16. THE THREE BEARS 17. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT 18. THE DOGS' DINNER PARTY 19. MY MOTHER 20. THE CATS' TEA PARTY 21. MORE NURSERY RHYMES 22. ROBIN REDBREAST 23. A, APPLE PIE 24. THE RAILWAY ALPHABET 25. NURSERY SONGS 26. NURSERY DITTIES 27. PUNCH AND JUDY 28. OUR PETS 29. CINDERELLA 30. PUSS IN BOOTS 31. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD 32. WILD ANIMALS 33. TAME ANIMALS 34. BIRDS 35. JACK THE GIANT KILLER 36. BLUE BEARD 37. ALADDIN 38. THE FORTY THIEVES 39. TOM THUMB 40. SLEEPING BEAUTY IN THE WOOD

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS,

LONDON AND NEW YORK.