Write: The captain sold the goods for a good price. He went to see the king of that land. He found that there were many rats and mice at the palace.
Questions: 1. What misfortune happened to the ship? 2. What sort of people did the captain find on the coast where he landed? 3. What did they give instead of the goods? 4. Where did the captain go with his friends next? 5. What went on at the king's dinner-table? 6. What did the captain tell Dick to fetch?
6. THE QUEEN AND THE KITTENS.
1. Taking puss in his arms, Dick was surprised to find that she tried to get away from him again, and to run down to the cabin below. This was the first time that she had done so, and he could not make it out.
2. She struggled to get away each time that Dick tried to carry her out of the ship, making an odd sort of "miew," and trying to coax him to come where she led him.
3. At last he ran after puss, down the cabin steps, and at the bottom, in a dark corner, he found that puss had hidden five pretty little kittens!
4. She was purring with all her might over them, and she tried to say, "Did you ever see five such sweet little things? How could you ask me to leave them? They would die if I did. Though I love you dearly I cannot go away."
5. So Dick found a warm piece of flannel, and wrapping the baby pussies up in it, he took the whole lot with him. Puss was ready enough to come when she saw this.
6. He made as much haste as he could. Soon he came into the palace with the kittens under one arm and their proud mother purring under the other.
7. No sooner did Dick enter than the cat began to sniff the air. Then she caught a glimpse of the rats and mice, which were still feasting on the table. The cloth was black with them.