me a great deal.
I said at the beginning of my story that it is a wonderful story. You will say that this is true when you hear what happened to me next.
One day the river grew very big and spread up to the houses, yes, up over the windows of the houses, and broke the houses in pieces. I was sleeping in a rocking chair and the water wet me and waked me from sleep and I sprang up on top the rocking chair back, and the water swashed and there was a great noise and the rocking chair went sailing off and many other things went, and the chair began to go down deeper and then I jumped off on to a bucket. Something hit that a knock and I had only time to catch hold of a box; a small one. There was just room to get all my paws on and I had to stick my back up high. I expected every moment to be drowned. I little thought I should live to tell the story. But a piece of board was knocked against me. I sprang upon that. Then came a chair. I sprang upon that. Then came something else; some thing wonderful, but I said at the beginning that this is a wonderful story. This next thing was a baby’s crib with the baby in it! The curtains were open and the baby was looking out. I jumped from the chair to the cradle and lay down on the baby. I was glad enough to get that resting place. I felt safe with the baby. Somebody would come to get the baby. The baby put out its hands and took hold of me.
I don’t know what became of that poor baby. The crib tipped over. I heard a man speak, and perhaps he went and got the baby. I was lucky enough to jump on to a firkin, and on this I floated down, down, down, down, I don’t know where, but I cried, cried, cried, oh how I cried!“I bumped against something hard, something very big. I scrambled up. Men were on it, and a woman, and a girl, and boys. They clapped and shouted and laughed. Oh what a noise! Don’t people know that loud noises make our ears ache? Don’t they know that our ears are made to hear very little faint mouse-taps, butterfly-wing noises, and we can’t bear loud noises? No, they don’t know. But I must go on with my story.

“That big hard thing was not a house nor a barn. It moved over the water. You cats that have lived only on ground cannot think how dreadful it is to stay in the midst of water. Not a bit of ground! No grass to eat. Oh I thought I should die for want of a bit of something green! No trees to climb! But there were some very high poles set for me to climb; poles taller than trees, and ropes and everything handy fixed for me to hang on by. I was treated well. The men fed me, the women fed me, the girl fed me, the boys fed me. The cook taught me some tricks which I shall be happy to show to those present at this famous party, if I shall be properly invited. A little girl held me and she put me 

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