From the Dust Jacket:
This book is a collection of Emily's writings, that takes its title from one of the several stories and word-sketches included in it. The stories are about her devoted pets, her childhood, her Indian acquaintances, the beauties of the West Coast - these are the subjects vividly brought to life in the stories. They recount the struggle in the life of an Indian mother; an episode in one family's observance of the Sabbath; the growing desperation of an Indian woman as she responds in the only way possible to a wire she cannot read; and a tale of romantic love.
Maternity
"Woo was a natural mother. Sisterhood did not appeal to her. Ordinarily she ignored the griffon ladies but, let one of them have a litter of pups, and Woo was all coax--begging to share.
Cooing to the side of the box, pleading for just one peep--presently her hand would steal over to touch a pup. The mother dog growled, snapped!
When the pups grew and the mother left the box more, Woo, watching her chance, crept in and drew the pups close, cuddling, crooning, gibbering, kissing as she kissed me or kissed herself in the mirror. When the mother dog returned Woo would not give the puppies up. The dog then would come whimpering to me for help. It was the same with the old yard cat's kittens. Woo clutched them to her with ecstatic hugs, ignoring the spitting mother cat."
--The Heart of a Peacock, p. 194
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