. St. Nicholas [serial]. And set them up, just for the funOf putting on inscriptions. But now, bereft of all employ,The prince was still a little boy,And Satan, then as now, could findSome mischief still, an idle mind And idle hands lorn and lonely Amnes sat,He all at once espied a catThat curled near by upon a mat, And coaxed her to him, purring. Now little boys in Egypt landWere early taught to understandThe cat was sacred, tooth and claw,From velvet ear to cushioned paw,A thing to hold in reverent awe —Alas for him who teased it!. J9°4-] AMNES AND HIS CAT. 251 But Tabbys tail

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. St. Nicholas [serial]. And set them up, just for the funOf putting on inscriptions. But now, bereft of all employ,The prince was still a little boy,And Satan, then as now, could findSome mischief still, an idle mind And idle hands lorn and lonely Amnes sat,He all at once espied a catThat curled near by upon a mat, And coaxed her to him, purring. Now little boys in Egypt landWere early taught to understandThe cat was sacred, tooth and claw,From velvet ear to cushioned paw,A thing to hold in reverent awe —Alas for him who teased it!. J9°4-] AMNES AND HIS CAT. 251 But Tabbys tail was thick and soft;With yearning he had marked it oft,And now — temptation was too great:He grasped — oh, awful to relate,Regardless of his future fate,Deliberately he squeezed it! Within the hall the feast was spread,The guests filed in, by Nepthah led, Her ladies, coming up in rows,Held lotus-blossoms to her nose,While ran the guests, in panic wild,To seek and seize the erring childWhose fault their feast had tainted. But Amnes, listening from without,Felt, all too late, a fearful doubt,Beheld his crime atrocious ;

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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873