OUR KITTY'S TRICK.E

I know that all the boys and girls Would be so glad to see Our kitty do the little trick She often does for me. When asked, "O kitty, where's the ball?" She to my shoulder leaps, And looks directly to the shelf, Where from a box it peeps. She will not cease to look and beg, Until I find the place Where she can take between her teeth The ball with easy grace. Then quickly to the floor she jumps; When, dropping first the ball, She runs behind the open door That leads into the hall. She waits, with only head in sight, The ball to see me throw; Then after it she scampers well Some forty feet or so. She never fails to bring it back; Then lifts with wondrous grace Her velvet paw to take the ball From out its hiding place. This done, she nestles by my side, And purrs while I caress, Unconscious of the trick she's done, Since three months old or less. She thus will lie in calm repose So long as I am still; But if I move to touch the ball, Then all her nerves will thrill, Her eyes will shine, she'll quickly find Her place behind the door, And wait again to see the ball Roll on the long hall floor. Ah, kitty dear, who told you how To join thought, act, and sight? Must not we think that in you dwells The germ of mental light, The germ that makes you kin to us In kind though not degree, But which was quickened by His touch For our supremacy?