ON 
 
 AND HER 
 
 Author of fC Little Henry and his Bearer?* fyc* 
 
 WELLINGTON, SALOP : 
 
 PRINTED BY AND FOR HOULSTON AND SON/, 
 
 Aud .sold at their Warehouse, 65, Paternos fcer- 
 
 Eow, London. 
 
 Price Two-pence. 
 
 [Entered at Stationers' Hal! J 
 
See Page 11. 
 
3 
 
 ml 
 
 MM 
 
 SOFFRONA 
 
 AND HER 
 
 C*4T MUFF. 
 
 BY MRS. SHERWOOD, 
 
 Author of 
 
 " LITTLE HENRY & HIS BEARER/' 
 
 fflSaelUngton, Salop: 
 
 PRINTED BY AND FOR HOULSTON AND SON. 
 
 And sold at their Warehouse, 65, Pater- 
 noster-Row, London. 
 
 1828. 
 
 ■ 1 ' ■ 1 1 
 
 [Entered at Stationers' Hall.] 
 
- 
 
SOFFRONA 
 
 AND HER 
 
 CAT MUFF. 
 
 ILlTTLE Soffrona lived with a lady 
 who loved her very much. She was 
 not the lady's own child, but she 
 was as dear to that lady as if she 
 had been so, and the child always 
 called her mamma. The lady had a 
 little girl of her own called Sophia. 
 Sophia was one year older than Sof- 
 frona ; and Sophia and Soffrona learn- 
 ed lessons together, and played toge- 
 ther, and were very happy in each 
 
6 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 other's company. When you saw 
 Soffrona, you might be sure Sophia 
 was not very far off; and when you 
 saw Sophia, it was very certain that 
 Soffrona was at no great distance. 
 
 How delightful it is for little chil- 
 dren to live in love and peace one 
 with another ! Hear what David says 
 on this subject- — Behold, how good 
 and pleasant it is for brethren to 
 dwell together in unity! (Psalm 
 exxxiii. 1.) 
 
 Soffrona and Sophia lived in a 
 very lovely house, surrounded with 
 woods. Wherever you looked from 
 the windows of that house, you 
 might see trees growing thickly to- 
 gether, forming beautiful arbours, 
 and pleasant shades, with little paths 
 
CAT MUFF. 7 
 
 winding about among those trees ; 
 and here and there, near the trees, 
 were fountains of water springing 
 from the hills, and running down 
 into the valleys : for there were hills 
 there, and the tops of some of them 
 were covered all through the winter 
 with snow, though in summer they 
 appeared green or blue, according to 
 the time of the year, and wore a very 
 pleasant aspect. 
 
 Soffrona and Sophia were allowed 
 to play in these woods, and they had 
 learned to run and skip upon the hills 
 like young fawns. It was very plea- 
 sing to see them, and they found many 
 treasures in those wild places which 
 children who have never been in 
 woods have no idea of. They found 
 
8 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 snail -shells, and painting-stones, and 
 wild strawberries, and bilberries, and 
 walnuts, and hazel nuts, and beauti- 
 ful nioss, and many kinds of flowers ; 
 and there they heard birds sing — cuc- 
 koos, and linnets, and blackbirds, and 
 thrushes ; and saw beautiful butter- 
 flies with gold and purple plumes, 
 and dragon-flies, whose wings look 
 like fine silk net. 
 
 One morning in the month of May, 
 SofFrona and Sophia had leave given 
 to them to play in the woods, after 
 they had finished their lessons, and 
 they took a basket with them, to bring 
 home any treasures which they might 
 find. And they went a long way 
 through the woods, — I dare say as 
 much as half a mile, —till they came 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 9 
 
 to a place where an old tree had been 
 blown down by the side of a brook; 
 and there they sat down, and each 
 of them took a little penny book to 
 read out of their basket: and while 
 they were reading, they heard a noise 
 of boys shouting and laughing, and 
 they jumped up and hid themselves 
 behind some bushes. 
 
 B 
 
10 SOFFRON A AND HER 
 
 So the boys came nearer, and went 
 down close to the water's side; and 
 the little girls heard them say one to 
 another, " Let us put it in the deep- 
 est place, where it cannot scramble 
 out." And they saw the boys stoop 
 over the water and put something 
 into it, and at the same time they 
 heard a very young kitten cry; and 
 the two little girls could not stop 
 themselves from screaming out, quite 
 loud, from the midst of the bushes, 
 saying, "Wicked, cruel boys! what 
 are you doing?" 
 
 Now the boys heard the cries of 
 the little girls; and, as the Bible 
 says, The wicked flee when no man 
 pursueth; (Prov. xxviii. 1.) so they 
 all took to their heels, and ran away 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 11 
 
 as fast as they could, leaving the poor 
 little kitten in the water. 
 
 Soffrona and Sophia did not lose 
 one moment after the boys were gone, 
 but ran to the brook, and found the 
 little kitten almost dead. However, 
 they got it out, though they wet 
 themselves up to the knees in so do- 
 ing, and they returned to the tree, 
 and Soffrona sat down, and laid it 
 upon her lap, while Sophia wiped 
 it dry ; and as she rubbed it, she 
 found warmth returning to its little 
 body, and presently it opened its 
 eyes and began to mew. "O my 
 dear little Puss ! " said Soffrona, 
 " how very glad I am that you are 
 not dead! You shall be my Puss, 
 and I will call you Muff. Will you 
 
12 
 
 SOFFRON A AND HER 
 
 let her be mine, Sophia? Will you 
 give me your share of her?" 
 
 Sophia did not say a word against 
 this request, for it was the same to 
 her whether the little kitten was call- 
 ed hers or Soffrona's, and she liked to 
 oblige SofFrona : besides, Sophia was a 
 year older than SofFrona, and it might 
 be expected that she would be more 
 moderate in her desires, and think 
 less of herself. Sophia had lived 
 twelve months longer than SofFrona 
 in the world ; and how much may a 
 person learn, with the blessing of 
 God, in twelve months! 
 
 So it was agreed that the kitten 
 should belong to SofFrona, and be 
 called MufF ; and when the little girls 
 had dried it as well as they could, 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 13 
 
 they put it into the basket upon some 
 soft moss, and ran home with it. 
 
 The lady was not angry with them 
 for having wetted themselves in the 
 brook to save a poor little animal's 
 life, but she hastened to change their 
 clothes ; and then they took the kit- 
 ten out of the basket, and procured 
 some milk to feed it with. 
 
 When the fur of the little cat 4 was 
 
14 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 quite dry, it was seen that she was 
 very beautifully marked. Her legs, 
 and face, and breast, were quite 
 white, and her back was streaked 
 with yellow and black; so that she 
 appeared like a fine polished tortoise- 
 shell. But she was only nine or ten 
 days old, and was not able to lap 
 milk ; and this was a great grief to 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 15 
 
 Soffrona and Sophia, for they feared 
 that although she had been saved from 
 the water, she would surely die of 
 hunger. The little girls tried to force 
 milk down her throat with a spoon; 
 but the milk ran down the outside of 
 her mouth, instead of the inside of 
 her throat, and the little creature's 
 sides became quite hollow for want of 
 nourishment. 
 
 Soffrona was thinking of nothing 
 but Muff all the evening, and she 
 kept her on her lap while she was 
 reading and while she was eating her 
 supper. She was, indeed, so much 
 occupied by her little kitten, that, 
 when the lady asked her to help to 
 make a flannel petticoat for a poor 
 old woman who lived in a cottage 
 
16 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 among the hills, not very far off, 
 she took the needle in her hand, it 
 is true, but I do not think that she 
 took twenty stitches ; for she was 
 looking down every minute upon the 
 kitten on her lap: and the petticoat 
 would not have been done that night, 
 if Sophia had not been doubly diligent. 
 
 Now it was much to be wished that 
 the petticoat should be done that 
 night; for it was intended for a good 
 old woman who lived in the woods, 
 a very poor woman indeed, and the 
 March winds had given her great 
 pain in her limbs, and she was in 
 much need of a warm petticoat ; and, 
 more than that, the lady had promised 
 the little girls the pleasure of taking 
 the petticoat, with some tea and sugar, 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 17 
 
 the next morning, after they had re- 
 peated their lessons, to the cottage. 
 But, as I before said, Soffrona's heart 
 was with her kitten, and she could 
 think of nothing else, and of no other 
 creature. She had no pity left for the 
 old woman, so much was she thinking 
 of little Muff. We ought to be kind 
 to animals ; but our first affections 
 should be given to our Maker, our 
 second to our fellow -creatures, and 
 our third to any poor animals which 
 may be in our power. 
 
 The last thing SofFrona did in the 
 evening, was to try to put some milk 
 down Muff's throat, and this was the 
 first thing she did in the morning : 
 and so far she did right, for the poor 
 little thing depended on her. But 
 
I 
 
 I 18 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 when she had done all she could for 
 Muff, she should have given her mind j 
 to her other duties; but she could 
 not command herself to attend to any 
 thing else all that morning, and learn- 
 ed her lessons so ill, that, if the lady 
 had not been very indulgent, she would 
 have deprived her of the pleasure of j 
 walking with Sophia to see the old \ 
 woman, and to carry the petticoat. 
 
 There was a neat little maid-ser- 
 vant, called Jane, who used to walk I 
 out with Sophia and Soffrona when 
 they had a long way to go ; and J ane | 
 was ready waiting for the little girls j 
 by the time the lessons were done. 
 
 Sophia had asked leave to carry 
 the basket with the petticoat and the 
 tea and sugar ; and Soffrona took an- 
 
 k 
 
CAT MUFF. 19 
 
 other basket, and put a bit of flannel 
 at the bottom of it, and laid Muff in 
 it, and tied the cover over it; and 
 when Sophia took up her basket to 
 carry, SofFrona also put her arm 
 under the handle of Muff's basket, 
 and went down stairs with it. 
 
 When they were got out of the 
 house, Jane said, " What, have you 
 two baskets, young ladies, full of 
 good things, to carry to old Martha? 
 Well, I am very glad; for she is a 
 good and pious old woman." 
 
 Soffrona coloured, but did not an- 
 swer; and Sophia smiled, and said, 
 << She has not got any thing for the 
 old woman in her basket: she has 
 only got Muif, wrapped in flannel, in 
 it." 
 
20 SOFFRON A AND HER 
 
 << O, Miss! " said Jane, " how can 
 you think of doing such a thing? 
 What a trouble it will be to you to 
 carry the kitten all the way ! and we 
 have two miles to walk, and most of 
 it up hill. Please to let me carry the 
 kitten back to the house." 
 
 " No, no, Jane," said Soffrona, 
 " no, you shall not." 
 
 "Shall not, Miss!" said Jane: 
 ** is that a pretty word?" 
 
 Soffrona looked very cross, and 
 Jane was turning back to complain 
 to the lady: but Sophia entreated 
 her not to do it; and Soffrona sub- 
 mitted to ask her pardon for being 
 rude, and promised to behave better, 
 if she would permit her to carry the 
 kitten where she was going. So that 
 
CAT MUFF. 21 
 
 matter was settled, and Jane and the 
 little girls proceeded. 
 
 I could tell you much about the 
 pretty places through which they 
 passed in going to poor Martha's 
 cottage, which were quite new to 
 the little girls. They first went 
 through some dark woods, where the 
 trees met over their heads like the 
 
 \ 
 
22 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 arches in a church; and then they 
 came to a dingle, where water was 
 running at the bottom, and they cross- 
 ed the water by a wooden bridge; 
 then they had to climb up such a 
 steep, such a very steep hill, cover- 
 ed with bushes; then they came to 
 a high field surrounded with trees, 
 and in a corner of that field was 
 old Martha's thatched cottage. It 
 was a poor place : the walls were 
 black-and-white, and there were two 
 windows, one of which was in the 
 thatch, and one below, and a door, 
 half of which was open; for it was 
 such a door as you see in cottages, 
 the lower part of which can be shut 
 while the other is open. There was 
 a little smoke coming out of the chim- 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 23 
 
 ney, for Martha was cooking her po- 
 tatoes for her dinner. 
 
 " Do you think Martha has any 
 milk in her house ?" said Soffrona; 
 " for poor Muff must be very hungry 
 by this time." 
 
 " I fear not/' replied Jane: " but 
 come, young ladies, we have been a 
 long time getting up this hill, and we 
 must be at home by three o'clock.' 7 
 
 So they went on, and came close to 
 the door % and stood there a little 
 while, looking in. They saw within 
 the cottage a very small kitchen ; but 
 it was neat, and there was nothing- 
 out of its place. There was a wide 
 chimney in the kitchen; and in the 
 chimney a tire of sticks, over which 
 huno* a little kettle. Old Martha 
 
24 
 
 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 was sitting on a stool within the 
 chimney. She was dressed in a blue 
 petticoat and jacket, and had a high 
 crowned, old-fashioned felt hat on 
 her head, and a coarse clean check 
 handkerchief on her neck. Before 
 her was a spinning-wheel, which she 
 was turning very diligently, for she 
 could not see to do any work besides 
 
CAT MUFF 
 
 25 
 
 spinning ; and by the fire, on the hob, 
 sat a fine tortoise-shell cat, which 
 was the old woman's only companion. 
 "O!" cried little Soffrona, " there 
 is a cat ! I see a cat ! " 
 
 "Dear, Miss," said Jane, "you can 
 think of nothing but cats." 
 
 " Well, Jane,' 7 answered Sophia, 
 " and if she is fond of cats, is there 
 any harm in it ? " 
 
 Jane could make no answer, for by 
 this time old Martha had seen them, 
 and came halting on her crutch to 
 meet them, and to offer them all the 
 seats in her house; and these were 
 only a three-legged stool and two old 
 chairs. 
 
 Sophia then presented the old wo- 
 man with what she had brought from 
 
20 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 her mamma, and Jane gave her a bot- 
 tle of medicine from her pocket: and 
 the old woman spoke of the goodness 
 of Almighty God, who had put it into 
 the lady's heart to provide her with 
 what she needed most in this world. 
 
 Now, while Sophia and Jane and 
 Martha were looking over the things 
 which the lady had sent, the old eat 
 had left the hob, and had come to 
 SofFrona, and was staring wildly, and 
 mewing in a strange way round the 
 basket ; and at the same time the 
 kitten within began to mew. " Puss ! 
 Puss! pretty Puss!" said SofFrona, 
 for she was half afraid of this large 
 cat, and yet at the same time very 
 well inclined to form a friendship 
 with her. 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 27 
 
 At length, those that were with her 
 in the cottage saw what was passing; 
 and Martha said, " Don't be afraid, 
 Miss; Tibby won't hurt you. Poor 
 thing! she is in great trouble, and 
 has been so ever since yesterday." 
 
 " What trouble?" said Soffrona. 
 
 "Some rude boys came in yester- 
 day, and stole her kitten," replied 
 
28 SOFFRON A AND HER 
 
 Martha. "I was in the wood, picking 
 a few sticks, and left the door open ; 
 and the boys came in, and ran away 
 with the kitten ; and the poor cat has 
 been moaning and grieving like a hu- 
 man being, — poor dumb thing, — ever 
 since. The cruel lads ! I saw them 
 go down the hill ! " 
 
 " OV said Soffrona, " and I do 
 believe" 
 
 " And I am sure," said Sophia. 
 
 ** And I am so glad ! " said Soffro- 
 na. 
 
 "And how happy she will be!" 
 said Sophia. 
 
 And Soffrona immediately set down 
 her basket and opened it, and put the 
 little kitten on the floor, for the kit- 
 ten was indeed poor Tibby's kitten. 
 
CAT MUFF. 
 
 29 
 
 It was a pretty sight, an agreeable 
 and pleasant sight, to behold the joy 
 of the old cat when she saw her kitten. 
 The poor creature seemed as if she 
 would have talked. Martha took up 
 the kitten, and laid it on a little bit 
 of a mat in the corner of the chimney, 
 where it used to be ; and the old cat 
 ran to it, and lay down by it, and 
 gave it milk, and licked it, and talked 
 to it in her way, (that is, in the way 
 that cats use to their kittens,) and 
 purred so loud, that you might have 
 heard her to the very end of the cot- 
 tage. It was a pleasant sight, as I 
 said before, for it is a pleasure to see 
 any thing happy; and Soffrona jump- 
 ed and capered about the house, and 
 knew not how sufficiently to express 
 
30 SOFFRONA AND HER 
 
 her joy : and as for little Sophia, her 
 eyes were filled with tears ; and poor 
 old Martha was not the least happy 
 of the party. 
 
 And now, when it was time to go, 
 SofFrona took up her empty basket, 
 and giving the kitten a kiss, " Little 
 Puss," she said, "1 will rejoice in 
 your happiness, though it will be a 
 loss to me, for I must part with my 
 little darling. But I will not be self- 
 ish: mamma says that I can never 
 make myself happy by making other 
 things miserable. Good-bye, little 
 Puss : if God will help me, I will try 
 never to be selfish. " And she walked 
 out of the cottage, wiping away her 
 tears. 
 
 "But you will let her have Muff, 
 
1 
 
 CAT MUFF. 
 
 31 
 
 ill 
 
 won't you, Martha," said Sophia, 
 "when her mother has brought her 
 up, and can part with her?" 
 
 "To be sure I will, dear Miss," 
 replied Martha ; " for I was delighted 
 to hear her say that she knew she 
 never could make herself happy by 
 making others miserable," 
 
 When Muff was a quarter old, she 
 v was brought to Soffrona, and became 
 her cat, and lived in her service till 
 her yellow and black hairs were min- 
 gled with grey. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Houlstons, Printers, Wellington, Salop. 
 
 4 '^^^ 4* Y 
 
the same Author 
 
 The ORPHAN BOY. Price 6d. 
 
 A PRIMER. Price 6d. 
 
 The INFIRMARY. Price 4d. 
 
 The ERRAND-BOY. Price 4d, 
 
 The TWO SISTERS. Price 4d, 
 
 The MAY-BEE. Price 4d. 
 
 EDWARD MANSFIELD. Price 4d. 
 
 JULIAN PERCIVAL. Price 4d. 
 
 GEORGE and his PENNY. Price. 2d. 
 
 EMILY and her BROTHERS. Price 2d. 
 
 The ROSE. Price 2d. 
 
 The BUSY BEE. Price 2d. 
 
 The WISHING-CAP. Price 2d. 
 
 EASY QUESTIONS. Price 2d. , 
 
 ROBERT and the OWL. Price 2d. 
 
 The TWO DOLLS. Price 2d. 
 
 The SUNDAY-SCHOOL CHILD'S RE 
 WARD. Price id. 
 
 LITTLE ARTHUR. Price 1 d . 
 
 POORRURRUFF. Price Id. 
 
 The BR V GROUND. Price Id. 
 
 The LADY in the ARBOUR. Price Id. 
 
 The FAWNS, Price Id. 
 
 HOME. Price Id. 
 
 ■WMWMII *M Ml