Soffrona and Her Cat Muff

by Mary Martha Sherwood

Now the boys heard the cries of the little girls; and, as the Bible says, The wicked flee when no man pursueth; (Prov. xxviii. 1.) so they all took to their heels, and ran away as fast as they could, leaving the poor little kitten in the water.

Soffrona and Sophia did not lose one moment after the boys were gone, but ran to the brook, and found the little kitten almost dead. However, they got it out, though they wet themselves up to the knees in so doing, and they returned to the tree, and Soffrona sat down, and laid it upon her lap, while Sophia wiped it dry; and as she rubbed it, she found warmth returning to its little body, and presently it opened its eyes and began to mew. “O my dear little Puss!” said Soffrona, “how very glad I am that you are not dead! You shall be my Puss, and I will call you Muff. Will you let her be mine, Sophia? Will you give me your share of her?”

Sophia did not say a word against this request, for it was the same to her whether the little kitten was called hers or Soffrona’s, and she liked to oblige Soffrona: besides, Sophia was a year older than Soffrona, and it might be expected that she would be more moderate in her desires, and think less of herself. Sophia had lived twelve months longer than Soffrona in the world; and how much may a person learn, with the blessing of God, in twelve months!

So it was agreed that the kitten should belong to Soffrona, and be called Muff; and when the little girls had dried it as well as they could, they put it into the basket upon some soft moss, and ran home with it.

The lady was not angry with them for having wetted themselves in the brook to save a poor little animal’s life, but she hastened to change their clothes; and then they took the kitten out of the basket, and procured some milk to feed it with.

When the fur of the little cat was quite dry, it was seen that she was very beautifully marked. Her legs, and face, and breast, were quite white, and her back was streaked with yellow and black; so that she appeared like a fine polished tortoise-shell. But she was only nine or ten days old, and was not able to lap milk; and this was a great grief to Soffrona and Sophia, for they feared that although she had been saved from the water, she would surely die of hunger. The little girls tried to force milk down her throat with a spoon; but the milk ran down the outside of her mouth, instead of the inside of her throat, and the little creature’s sides became quite hollow for want of nourishment.

Soffrona was thinking of nothing but Muff all the evening, and she kept her on her lap while she was reading and while she was eating her supper. She was, indeed, so much occupied by her little kitten, that, when the lady asked her to help to make a flannel petticoat for a poor old woman who lived in a cottage among the hills, not very far off, she took the needle in her hand, it is true, but I do not think that she took twenty stitches; for she was looking down every minute upon the kitten on her lap: and the petticoat would not have been done that night, if Sophia had not been doubly diligent.

Now it was much to be wished that the petticoat should be done that night; for it was intended for a good old woman who lived in the woods, a very poor woman indeed, and the March winds had given her great pain in her limbs, and she was in much need of a warm petticoat; and, more than that, the lady had promised the little girls the pleasure of taking the petticoat, with some tea and sugar, the next morning, after they had repeated their lessons, to the cottage. But, as I before said, Soffrona’s heart was with her kitten, and she could think of nothing else, and of no other creature. She had no pity left for the old woman, so much was she thinking of little Muff. We ought to be kind to animals; but our first affections should be given to our Maker, our second to our fellow-creatures, and our third to any poor animals which may be in our power.