Carine Cadby

“ There is no animal or insect that makes anything quite so wonderful and beautiful as what these little creatures spin.
The spider’s web is really a snare for catching her food. The strands of it are so fine as often to be invisible in some lights even in the daytime, and of course quite invisible at night. Sometimes the beetle or flying insect is so strong that he can tear the web and get free, but not often, for the spider can do wonders with her thread. She spins ropes and throws them at her big prey and doesn’t go near it till it is bound and helpless. ”

“ I want to tell you about two little Persian kittens called Tompkins and Minette. They were the prettiest you have ever seen with their long fluffy fur, their small ears and little impudent stumpy noses. They looked such innocent darlings, you felt you must kiss them, but like most kittens, they dearly loved a little fun, and as for mischief—well, you shall hear all about them.
Their mother was a very handsome Persian cat Salome, with a proud walk and very dignified ways. ”

“ I don’t know how many new frocks you have, but Emma has changed hers seven times before she was grown up.
If you look closely at a real spider you will see it has hairs on its body and on its legs. Emma, too, has these same fine hairs which are very important. She can neither see nor hear very well, so these hairs, which are sensitive, can warn her of danger. They feel the least trembling of the web and are even conscious of sound, so you see how useful they are.
The spider is rather a lonely person and not at all sociable. Perhaps this is because she has to work so hard for a living. ”

“ To a dog every one has his own particular smell which never deceives him. If you dress yourself up you may puzzle your dog’s eyes for a little while. He may even bark at you as if you were a stranger, but once let him get near enough to smell you and it is all over. He will wag his tail and look up at you, as much as to say, “Did you really think you could take me in?” ”

“ I don’t believe you are feeling a bit afraid of spiders now, are you? There is no reason why we should fear them, for they don’t bite or sting us; and if they did the poison that paralyses and kills their prey would not hurt us. Besides, they kill the insects that harm us. I saw a spider’s web once full of mosquitoes, and you know what worrying little pests they are. I was glad to see so many caught, but sorry for the spider, as they didn’t look a very substantial meal. ”

“ Dogs are very like children who never grow up. But a child would have to have a very loving heart to be as fond of any one as a dog. A dog is so faithful, too; he never tires of people or thinks them wrong or unfair, and he is just as devoted and obedient to them however old he gets. He is always trying to please them and is miserable and unhappy when he fails. That is why it is so easy to train a dog ”

“ JOAN SAVES A CHICKEN’S LIFE
I wonder if you have ever seen a hen feed her chickens. It is a pretty sight. She scratches on the ground, and when she finds something to eat, she calls her children. “Tuk, tuk, tuk,” she cries, and all the little chicks come scurrying up, for they understand quite well what she means, and are always ready for something more to eat. ”

“ Four kittens and a big fluffy mother take up a lot of room in a basket, and theirs seemed getting to be a tighter fit every day.
“We shan’t be quite so crowded now,” remarked Minette with a yawn after the others had gone away.
“And we shall have all the more to eat,” said Tompkins.
“Our mother will love us more, too,” purred Minette.
“The only bother is: she’ll have more time to wash our faces,” said Tompkins. So when Mary, their tender-hearted little mistress pitied them saying, “Poor darlings! how they will miss the others!” ”

“ JOAN AND THE CANARIES
[99]
I wonder if you have ever watched young chickens. You can’t help liking such babyish, fluffy little things; they are so sweet and so different from the grown-up hens. I know a little girl who cried out, “Look at all those canaries!” Of course, they are not really a bit like canaries, and it was only because of their yellow coats that she made the mistake.
Chickens are so lively and cheery, too; even when they are only a day old they are able to feed themselves, and will run about picking up grain. ”

“ Let us look at the picture of the spider in the web and pretend it is a [64] real one; and shall we give it a name? I don’t believe Miss Moffat would have been frightened if she had known a little more about it, or if it had a name, so we will call this little spider “Emma.”
Emma is a girl spider and she will grow up ever so much bigger than any boy spider. It is rather topsy-turvy in the spider world, for the she-spiders are not only bigger but much stronger and fiercer than the little he-spiders, and they are quarrelsome, too, and love a fight. ”

“ Joan never forgot the morning Dolly found a worm. Instead of keeping quiet, the silly chick made such a fuss over it that the others soon found it out. Cheeky was on the spot at once, and before slow Dolly could say a “peep” he had snatched the worm out of her beak and was off. ”

“ PUPPIES AND KITTENS TWO PUPPIES CHAPTER I
TIM
Some dogs love being photographed and others simply hate it. We once had a dog called Tim who was determined to be in every photograph. It didn’t matter what we were trying to take, Tim would do his best to push in. And the worst of it was that when you were busy with the camera you couldn’t be looking after Tim at the same time, and he would somehow manage to get into the picture. Perhaps he hadn’t got in quite far enough, in which case you would see only a bit of him, which was worst of all. ”

“ An incubator is a sort of comfortable box which keeps the eggs as safe and warm as a mother hen, so that they come out in three weeks just as if a hen were looking after them. Only an incubator, not being alive, wouldn’t get flurried or excited at any one looking on. Joan was told there were eggs in it which were due to turn into chickens on Thursday or Friday. ”

“ In fact, all her time, day and night, seems taken up either with making or repairing the web, and lying in wait, when she dozes far back in her little shelter out of sight, with one hand always on the tell-tale cord that connects with the web and lets her know of its slightest movement. ”

“ You see, all cats love pretending even when they are quite babies, so Tompkins and Minette pretended to be grown-up cats chasing a mouse until that bold Tompkins suggested, “It’s really too big for a mouse, let’s call it a rat.” And they grew quite fierce as they hunted it, giving [151] savage miaous and growls just like big cats. But after a little the rat seemed to shrink into a mouse and the mouse into nothing at all for the wool had all come unwound.
It never does to give way to temper, does it? and when Mary returned she was to find it out. ”

“ Tompkins loved anything in the shape of a ball, and as there was a good deal of knitting going on in the house there were several balls in sight. The grown-ups, however, were careful with theirs; they knew kittens, but Mary, who was only eight and had just begun to knit, seemed the most hopeful, and it was her ball the kittens watched. Her wool was thick, and the scarf she was making never seemed to get beyond the third row, so there was always a nice fat ball of it. ”

“ While a hen is sitting she doesn’t want to be bothered to think of anything else except how she can best keep her eggs warm and safe. She has to be careful and patient till the chicks are ready to come out. This is an exciting time, and Joan used often to think about it. She did wish so she might see a chicken burst through its shell. She imagined there would be a little tapping sound, and that the other chickens would be very interested and listen, and then the shell would suddenly open and out would spring a fluffy yellow chicken. ”

“ It is the same when the eggs are [90] hatched out, for her babies are always with her. Their home is on her back, and as there is such a swarm of them, they cover her right up and you often can’t see the spider for the young. Often some of them drop off, but they are active little things and they soon climb on again. As long as they live with their mother they have nothing to eat. This fasting, however, doesn’t seem to hurt them for they are very lively; the only thing is they don’t grow. ”

“ You know, I expect, that cocks are given to fighting; that is why you seldom see two cocks in the same run. The hens are different and live together very happily; they are too busy with their eggs and looking after their baby chickens to be quarrelsome. But Fluffy and Cheeky were going to grow up cocks which probably made them more inclined to quarrel. Joan thought, perhaps, they still bore each other a grudge over the worm which neither of them had been able to enjoy. ”

“ If you get up early some still September morning, just about the same time as the sun, and go for a walk in a wood, or even along a country road, you may see the webs with what look like strings of the tiniest pearls on them, and you will find that until the sun has dried up all the little wet pearls, which are of course dewdrops, the poor spider has not a ghost of a chance of catching anything. ”

“ A great angry yellow wasp, making frightful growling noises and struggling desperately to get out of the web. Poor Emma wasn’t very old or daring and she knew the danger she was in, for this savage monster could kill her easily with his sting. He was fighting hard against the sticky meshes of the web and jerking himself nearer to her. She was too frightened to move, and for a minute she hung on to her web limp and motionless looking like a poor little dead spider. ”

“ As soon as the puppies really got on to it, they put their noses to the ground and followed it up, their little stumpy tails wagging hard. Their instinct told them it was not an animal that could hurt them, but one their mother and father and grandfathers and great-grandfathers had chased, so you can’t blame Timette and Ann for following up the scent of a rabbit.
But although rabbits are often killed by dogs, they are not silly enough to allow themselves to be caught by two young, inexperienced puppies. ”

“ Puppies don’t have meat to eat; they don’t really need it till they are grown up. However, sometimes as a great treat, Timette and Ann would be given a bone. They always had one each, because being rather jealous dogs they might have quarreled over one. Tim, too, always had a bone to himself. One day the cook threw Tim a bone, but he had gone off for a saunter in the wood, and the puppies rushed to get the prize. ”

“ He wouldn’t play with them any more, and with his head up and his tail fluffed out he walked away, looking very like his mother when she was offended.
But Pussy, who was a kind hearted kitten and didn’t like to see him hurt, ran after him and said, “Please, don’t go, we were only in fun. Come back and tell us more about your mother, I’m sure she has her points, and anyhow I don’t expect she boxes your ears like Jane does ours.”
Tompkins was surprised. “Does she really?” he asked, for he had never heard of such a thing.
“Indeed, she does, with her claws out, too, sometimes,” said Pet. ”

“ I know they are sometimes, but before you punish a dog you should be quite sure he understands what it is for. If he is an intelligent dog, a scolding will often do as well as a whipping. Tim only had a whipping once in his life, and yet he was a very well trained dog. ”

“ Tess had five jolly little puppies, three boys and two girls, and as soon as ever the pups could get on without their mother, she was sent away. She went to some kind people who never wanted to photograph their dogs and where she would get heaps and heaps to eat, for I must tell you, Tess was rather a greedy dog and not as faithful and affectionate as Tim. ”

“ It doesn’t seem to matter very much even to grown-up spiders to go without their dinners for several days. And when they do at last get some food they gorge. They eat and eat and eat, and instead of making themselves ill like you would do, they seem to feel very comfortable and are able to go hungry again for some time. Perhaps it is because, as babies, they got used to doing without food. ”

“ One day the milk was put down as usual, but Salome didn’t hurry to go to it. The fact was she had come in from the garden, and as she sat on the window-seat, she discovered her paws were rather damp and dirty. She was a fussy and particular cat who thought a great deal of appearance, and she was very busy licking her paws soft and velvety again [155] before having her tea. Now was Tompkins’ chance. He watched his mother very carefully and then stole quietly up to the saucer. ”

“ They peep out all sorts of pleased things in chicken language, and each tries to push the others away to get most for himself.
Joan loved to see them, and she used to imitate the old hen and call the chickens and give them some chopped egg. They liked this and got so tame that they would eat out of her hand. Joan’s aunt was [117] quite surprised, and one day she made them take some grain out of her hand. Cheeky jumped on to her thumb, and Piggy and Fluffy lost no time in getting to their dinner. ”

“ Tompkins was thunderstruck. He had never been used to hearing his dignified [168] mother spoken of like this, and thought the kittens were very rude. “My mother is very beautiful and very valuable,” he said indignantly; “besides, she is a nice warm fluffy mother to go to sleep with.”
“Maybe,” said Ugly, “but we shouldn’t care to change with you. Our mother Tibby is the right sort. She never forgets us and isn’t above stealing a little now and then, and if it’s too big for her she lets us help eat it.”
“And look what a sportsman she is!” said Pussy. “You should see her after a mouse. ”

“ She didn’t mean to hurt her babies, of course, but she got so worried and nervous that she was not careful [138] enough where she put her feet down and killed five of them. In her excitement she had trampled on them and the poor little things had scarcely lived at all. Of course, Lulu was very sorry, but that didn’t mend her promise nor bring the chickens back to life.
Joan was delighted when her aunt told her she might have a chance of seeing some hatching out. There were some eggs in the incubator which were due out very soon. ”

“ You see if the spiders’ nets which are set to catch sharp-eyed insects were always to show as clearly as they do in the pictures, I am afraid they would really starve, for no fly would be silly enough to go into such a bright trap. ”