Various

“ He liked to have Sam come and play with him. As soon as he saw Sam coming, he would run to meet him, and push him with his head, in play, and try to jump on him.
The goat grew very fast,—much faster than Sam did; so that soon he was quite a big goat, while Sam was still a very small boy. He got to be so much stronger that Sam, that Sam was a little afraid of him.
One day, when they were playing, the goat hit Sam with his head, and knocked him down. Sam was scared. He got up, fast as he could, and tried to run to the gate; but the goat ran after him, and Sam had to climb into a tree. ”

“ I often wonder how many cats there are at farmer Clark's now. And sometimes I dream about them. This is a true story.
AUNT FAN.
TOM'S APPLE.
AH! ugh! oh!" cried little Tom. "There's a worm in my red apple, mamma."
"Is he a pretty worm?" asked his mamma, looking up from her sewing.
"Pretty, mamma! Who ever heard of a worm being pretty? No, no! he's a horrid crawling thing. I sha'n't eat any more of the apple. I couldn't, now I've seen him in it."
"Let me see him," said mamma: so Tommy brought the apple to his mother.
"Why, yes, he's a beauty," said she. ”

“ Once, when I taught school in the country, I boarded at farmer Clark's house, where there were sixteen cats,—Yes, sixteen cats! There was a big yellow cat, and a big gray cat, and a big black-and-white cat, and lots of little kittens.
The big gray cat was named Gussy. She was the grandmother of them all. She lived in the house. The rest staid around the barn. Farmer Clark was a good man, and did not believe in killing any thing that was not dangerous to life or property. So no little kittens were drowned, if he knew it. ”

“ Jack would run too, and bark all the time.
But by and by Sam began to get tired of his goats, and his mamma was more tired of them than Sam was. They ate the tops off of her nice rose-bushes; they ran over her flower-beds; and one day, when the door was open, one of them ran into the parlor and jumped up on the best sofa.
Mamma said this would never do: so the next day papa found a man who said he would give Sam fifty cents for the [236] white goat. As Sam wanted to buy a drum, he was glad to sell the goat; and with fifty cents in his pocket he felt very rich. ”

“ As soon as I appeared at the door, and called, "Tom, Tom!" the cats came tumbling, pell-mell, mewing, and rubbing against me. It was a sight to see.
First, there would be a thick row of cats around the pans, [254] —so thick that only sixteen tails and thirty-two hind-legs could be seen. The next minute the heads would go lower, and the fore-paws would go up on the edge of the pans.
Then a kitten would jump in. Then they would all fight, and push, and spit, and snarl to get to the lower side of the pan, where the milk was the deepest. ”

“ But there was no fish on it.
"The third time never fails," said Charley, as he threw [227] out his line again. He waited now until the cork was pulled clear under water; then he lifted it out, without too much haste, and, sure enough, he had caught a fish.
How long do you suppose it had taken him to do it? Pretty nearly all the forenoon. No matter! he had one fish to carry home, and he had had a real good time besides.
Charley has caught many a mess of fish since then; but I doubt if he has ever enjoyed the sport more than he did in catching that one fish.
UNCLE SAM. ”

“ When he found no egg in the sleeve he was angry. He looked up in Ellen's face in a very wicked way, then stooped down and buried his teeth in her wrist. Then he turned and ran into the house, clanking his chain after him. ”

“ Why, after the cow has chewed the fresh green grass or the dry hay in her mouth, she sends it down into a large stomach, to be soaked; then she sends it into another stomach, to be rolled into balls; then up it goes into her mouth again, to be chewed over; and each little ball is a cud. ”