heard by the clumsy ears of people—people who think they hear everything and hear so little!‘Dost thou know,’ asked Mouseroun at last, ‘where dwelleth this renowned Tabby Furpurr?‘I have not that knowledge,’ replied Phi. ‘She must be now quite aged, and therefore well known hereabouts. Yonder is a young Persian, all so happy with her three kittens, as soft and white as herself. I will inquire of her concerning Tabby Furpurr.’ As they approached the young Persian, Phi inquired of her, ‘Dost thou know Mistress Tabby Furpurr, young Persian, and canst thou direct us to her abode?’‘I know Mistress Furpurr well enough,’ said the young Persian, ‘but I decline to direct you to her abode. It is too much trouble.‘We are anxious to find her,’ said Phi, ‘and we are weary with travel.’‘No doubt,’ replied the Persian; ‘but I prefer to stay and enjoy the company of my children.’‘And wilt thou not direct us?’ asked Phi.‘Answered the young Persian, ‘I have said what I have said.’‘Good day, then,’ said Phi, and he drew Mouseroun away, fearing he might do something rash.‘Canst thou explain,’ asked Mouseroun of Phi as they journeyed on, ‘why the young Persian should refuse to please others when she is herself so happy?’‘The most happy are often the most selfish,’ replied Phi. ‘Those who have known unhappiness are likely to feel pity.‘A little farther on they looked in at a great stone doorway and there they spied a rat which had hidden in a dark corner to eat a head of wheat. ‘Rats are wise,’ said Phi, ‘perhaps yonder fellow may direct us to Mistress Tabby Furpurr.’‘But as they drew near to inquire of the rat, he dropped his wheat and fled.‘Now, why was that?’ asked Mouseroun. ‘We meant him no harm.’‘A rat,’ said Phi, ‘must judge by what has been done, not by what is meant. After all that has been done by cats to rats, it will take a long time to make rats believe that cats mean rats no harm.‘I fear we shall not get any rat to direct us to the abode of Mistress Furpurr.’“Phi was mistaken. Soon after, in passing a barn they heard much stir and scampering inside. ‘Wherever there is a stir and a scampering,’ said Phi, ‘we may be sure there is something going on inside.’“Mouseroun was eager to enter, but Phi held him back lest harm might befall him and himself stepped forward.“‘Rats,’ he whispered, as he stepped back.“There were six rats inside the barn; a father, mother and four children had come to visit one of the family that had been taken in a trap. The mother looked in at the front of the cage, the father looked down from over the top. As Mouseroun and Phi drew near, the father, mother and four children fled to their holes.“The rat in the cage when questioned by Phi, said he had been told by his parents not to go in, but he thought he knew best, and he did not believe 

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