TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I.By the Fire[1]
II.A Cat's Refuge[7]
III.A Surprising Change[22]
IV.I Visit My Family[36]
V.The Cat on the Common[53]
VI.My First Fight[75]
VII.A New Sensation[101]
VIII.Serena Astonishes Us[124]
IX.On the Train[139]
X.We Reach the Country[162]
XI.Maine, Lovely Maine[176]
XII.My Headstrong Sister[196]
XIII.Pigs, Cows and Chickens[209]
XIV.My Sister Gives a Lecture[228]
XV.The Mole-hunt[248]
XVI.The Return of the Children[263]
XVII.The Mischievous Guinea-hen[273]
XVIII.The Owl and the Chickens[287]
XIX.The Close of the Summer[295]
XX.In the City Again[307]

LIST of ILLUSTRATIONS

Pussy Black-Face[Frontispiece]
“My mother began to polish off my head”[39]
“She put her head first on one side then on the other, till she cracked it all to pieces”[50]
“'Mona,' I said confidentially, 'I am having a dreadful time'”[80]
“She slipped between the big dog's front paws, and sat there cowering and trembling”[150]
“Out on the ploughed land under the apple trees, a furry ball was rolling over and over”[188]
“'My friends, ... I stand before you this evening quite unprepared'”[244]
“The rooster kept so far ahead that no one but ourselves suspected the mischief she was doing”[281]

Pussy Black-Face

CHAPTER I
BY THE FIRE

My name is Pussy Black-Face, and I am a naughty young kitten. I wish I were good like my mother. She is the best cat that I ever saw. I try to be like her, and sometimes I succeed, but most times I don't.