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THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

 

during the night, wherever they could
find a door open, or gnaw a hole. One
morning, when I got up, one of my
shoes was missing. It could not be
found; but some years after, when the
house was undergoing some repairs and
alterations, the missing shoe, much
smaller than the foot to which it belong-
ed, was found under the floor. It seems
that the rats had carried it off, and
that they had found that they could
make no use of it, after they had stolen
it. Puss did her best to clear the house
of these intruders; but they watched
their opportunity, and raced around the
chambers at will, while she was guarding
the cellar; or gnawed the potatoes, and
scampered over the meat-barrels, while
she was hunting up chamber. In this
state of things, my mother determined
to poison them; and having procured
some arsenic, she was just spreading it
on a slice of bread and butter, when she
was suddenly called away for a moment.
She laid the bread on the hearth, where
she supposed no one would take it, and
went out. Unfortunately, this was a
place where Venture had sometimes had
his plate of food set; and when my mo-
ther came in, he was just finishing the
Jast mouthful. Poor fellow! he was soon
taken very sick; and we children were
almost beside ourselves, when told that
he would probably die. I well remember
how my brother cried and moaned, say-
ing repeatedly, “I shall never be happy
again, if Venture dies.” For some hours,
our mother gave us little hope, though
she gave poor Venture a great deal of
medicine, and fixing a little bed for him
in the house, watched him with the
greatest care; but at last, we were
rejoiced to hear her say, that she

thought he would recover. For many
days, he could hardly crawl from his
bed; and our mother fed him, as she .
would have done a sick child, with gruel.
Often, my brother and I knelt on his hit-
tle bed, and put our arms round his neck,
while he looked lovingly in our faces,
and seemed to prize our sympathy.
Some time after this, Venture was
missing. For several days, we called
him, and looked for him in vain ; and we
began to fear some one had enticed him
away; but we hoped he loved us all so
well, that he would come back again.
At length, I was playing with one of my
little companions, near a barn, that be-
longed to one of our neighbors, when,
happening to stoop down, we saw, far
under the barn, what appeared to us to
be two balls of fire. We ran into the
house in great alarm, and the gentleman
accompanied us out, to ascertain the
cause of our fears. ‘To my great de-
light, he told me that he had no doubt
we saw the eyes of my lost Venture,
who had probably followed some smaller
animal under the barn, and been unable
to return. A board was soon loosened,
above the place where he was confined ;
and we shouted with joy to see him.
But he took no notice of us, till he had
expressed his gratitude to the kind man
who had delivered him. This he did by
twice leaping up, and licking his face ;
and then he bounded forward, and start-
ed with me toward home. Every look
bespoke joy at his release ; and I hardly
know who run the faster, Venture or I,
to tell the glad news. Suddenly he
turned about, and ran back as fast as he
had come. It seemed that, upon second
thought, he concluded he had not suffi-
ciently expressed his gratitude; and