her mother purring by the fire-side. Wishie was too full of her adventure to keep it another minute to herself; so, running up to her mother, she related it at great length.

"Nonsense, child," said the old cat, "you don't think I shall believe such absurd stuff, do you?" I'll box your ears for telling stories-" and she gave Wishie such a hearty cuff with her paw, that she sent her spinning into the great gallery, to amuse herself as she best could.

How dreadfully cross my old mother is to-day; thought Wishie to herself, as she scampered up the corridor; however, I must try and find something to do here-it's very dull being all by oneself. Just then, as she drew near one of the windows, she heard a great buzzing and fluttering, and looking up, saw a large wasp dancing about in the sunshine. Wishie thought it would be very good fun to try and catch him, so she made several springs at the window, but all in vain; the wasp was as young and active as she was, and eluded her very nimbly. Quite out of breath, she paused for a minute to look at him.

"O how I wish I could catch you, master wasp!" she exclaimed, giving a final jump with all her might.

Strange to say, this time the wasp seemed almost

to drop into her claws; she clutched him with such a tight grasp, that he had no posibility of escape; but in an instant, with a direful scream, Wishie unclosed her paw; and the wasp dropped on the floor. Wishie's paw was terribly stung. Her first trial of the fairy's gift had not proved pleasant by any means. So, limping and mewing, Wishie went back to her mother, who scolded her well for her folly in jumping at the wasp, when she ought to have been minding her duty and catching the mice; and after licking the wounded paw, the old cat sent her to bed for the rest of the day. But Wishie had no intention whatever of spending her day in such a manner as that. Lie in bed, indeed! not she. So she licked her paw till the pain was somewhat abated, and then she crawled slily upstairs into the great gallery. There was nobody there, except the knights and ladies in the pictureframes, the baron's ancestors, and a grim looking set they were; and as none of them showed any desire to come down from the walls to play with her, Wishie very soon got tired of looking at them. So, seeing a door open at the end of the corridor, she stole quietly in, and found herself in one of the state apartments of the castle. It was a grand room, hung with beautiful tapestry, and full of a great many curious things, the use of which Wishie could

not imagine. Among other things, there was a magnificent cabinet, and, on one of the shelves, a pretty round ball of carved ivory, that looked just as if it was made on purpose to roll along upon the floor, and be run after. And such a large room, too, it was; the ball would roll about so splendidly.

"Oh!" exclaimed Wishie, "you pretty ball, I do wish I had you to play with!"

Bounce came the ball upon the floor, and in another moment, it had rolled quite to the other end of the room, with Wishie after it; but it would not suffer her to touch it, just as she came up to it, up it jumped, dashed high up in the air, over the chairs and tables, and then descending again on the floor, was here and there and everywhere, all in a minute; Wishie scampering after it, and absolutely screaming with delight. Up flew the ball-up to the very ceiling; then down it came with a rattle against some fine old china on the top of the cabinet, and in an instant, bowls, jars, and tea-pots, were all lying on the floor, broken to pieces. Dear me! thought Wishie, this is rather too much of a good thing; if the old housekeeper should come in!

But the mad ball never stopped to think about the housekeeper; now it took a long roll upon the

floor, as if to entice Wishie to run after it; then, suddenly darting up, would hurl itself with all its might, against one of the grim old pictures; Wishie, who had by this time quite forgotten the pain of her paw, jumping as high as ever she could reach after it. It really was something like a game at play! Just then, bounce it went against a superb mirror at the upper end of the room, shivering it to atoms; but not a whit did the ball care for that-with a tremendous spring, it cleared the whole length of the room, and alighted on one of the picture-frames near the door.

But Wishie was getting much too frightened now to enjoy the fun any longer: she stood, gazing with rueful looks at the broken mirror-O if the cross old housekeeper should find it out! She thought the best plan would be to steal out of the room, but on turning round, she perceived that the door had become most unaccountably shut-there was no getting out. What was to be done? While she was turning it over in her mind, down came the ball directly upon Wishie's tail, with such a thump! Wishie thought her poor tail must be utterly demolished- she heard an odd sort of chuckling laugh up in the air, and, looking up, saw that the ball had seated itself, very quietly, in its old place on the top of the cabinet. How her