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While she stood staring at some very astonishing worsted-work pictures, a lady, who was arranging fruit near by, upset a basket of fine peaches, and they rolled away under tables and chairs.

“I’ll pick ’em up, ma’am,” cried Kitty, who loved to be useful; and down she went on her hands and knees, and carefully picked up every runaway.

“What is your name, my obliging little girl?” asked the lady, as she brushed up the last yellow peach.

“Kitty; and I live at the poor-house; and I never saw a Cattle Show before, ’cause I didn’t have any thing to bring,” said the child, feeling as important with her cat as a whole agricultural society.

“What did you bring,–patchwork?”

“O, no, ma’am, a lovely cat, and she is down stairs with the hens,–all white, with blue eyes and a blue bow,” cried Kitty.

“I want to see her,” said a little girl, popping her head up from behind the table, where she had bashfully hidden from the stranger.

The lady consented, and the children went away together.

While they were gone, Sam came to find his little friend, and the kind lady, amused at the cat story, asked about the child.

“She aint no friends but me and the kitten, so I thought I’d give the poor little soul a bit of pleasure. The quarter I’ll get for fetching Green’s hens will get Kitty some dinner, and a book maybe, or something to remember Cattle Show by. Shouldn’t wonder if I earned a trifle more doing chores round to-day; if so, I shall give it to her for a premium, ’cause I fetched the cat for fun, and wouldn’t like to disappoint the child.”

As Sam laughed, and rubbed his rough hands over the joke of surprising Kitty, the lady looked at his kind old face, and resolved to give him a pleasure, too, and of the sort he liked.

She was rich and generous, and, when her little girl came back, begging her to buy the lovely kitten, she said she would, and put five dollars into Sam’s hands, telling him that was Kitty’s premium, to be used in buying clothes and comforts for the motherless child.

Kitty was quite willing to sell puss, for five dollars seemed a splendid fortune to her. Such a happy day as that was, for she saw everything, had a good dinner, bought “Babes in the Wood” of a peddler, and, best of all, made friends.

Miss Puss was brought up by her new mistress, and put on a table among the flowers, where the pretty cage and the plump, tricksy kitten attracted much attention, for the story was told, and the little girl’s droll contribution much laughed over.

But the poor-house people didn’t laugh, for they were so surprised and delighted at this unexpected success that they were never tired of talking about Kitty’s Cattle Show.