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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4484bd --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67785 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67785) diff --git a/old/67785-0.txt b/old/67785-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8386411..0000000 --- a/old/67785-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5454 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Cat, by Violet Hunt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Cat - Animal Autobiographies - -Author: Violet Hunt - -Release Date: April 6, 2022 [eBook #67785] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAT *** - - - - - - ANIMAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES - - THE CAT - - BY VIOLET HUNT - - - LONDON - ADAM & CHARLES BLACK - 1905 - - - 'I had rather be a kitten and cry--Mew!' - SHAKESPEARE. - - - AGENTS IN AMERICA - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 64 & 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK - - _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME._ - _PRICE 6s. EACH._ - - THE DOG. - BY G. E. MITTON. - - THE BLACK BEAR. - BY PERRY ROBINSON. - - THE RAT. - BY G. M. A. HEWETT. - - - - - TO - ANNE CHILD - - - - -[Illustration: LOKI.] - - - - - PREFACE - - -A cat is of all animals the most difficult to know; it is so intimate, -but so detached; so dependent on human beings for its comfort, so -loftily indifferent to their wishes. It requires one who has lived -with cats and seen their idiosyncrasies, their whims and their strong -individuality, to write about them, and in the present author they -have found a spokeswoman who knows them through and through. A sense -of humour is necessary in dealing with the subject--and the humour is -not lacking. Loki is a real cat in more senses than one, and those who -follow his life story will find themselves better able to understand -their own cats than they have ever been before. - - THE EDITOR. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - I. THE NURSERY - - II. ONE LESS THAN FIVE - - III. TO LAP OR NOT TO LAP - - IV. THE SCHOOLROOM - - V. ONE LESS THAN FOUR - - VI. THE FIRST JOURNEY - - VII. AN INVALID - - VIII. A MAN WHO HATED ME - - IX. MY FIRST MOUSE - - X. THE CHILDREN'S HOUR - - XI. THE SURPRISE THAT FELL FLAT - - XII. FROM TOP TO BOTTOM - - XIII. CATAPUK - - XIV. 'POOSH!' - - XV. THE BLACK COMMON CAT - - XVI. THE BLACK CAT BRINGS MEASLES - - XVII. A WEDDING IN THE HOUSE - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - BY ADOLPH BIRKENRUTH - - - Loki - - The milk ran down the creases to the floor - - She used to stand on her hind legs and look at the painting - - Out of that dog's way, at any rate - - Auntie May took me across her shoulder - - I played with shavings for about an hour - - A black cat brings good luck to a theatre - - I did not want to see any one of them again - - Mistigris used to lie in wait for me - - 'I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,' - she said - - That boy was rough and played experiments with him - - She married Mr. Fox in less than a month - - - - - THE CAT - - - - - CHAPTER I - - THE NURSERY - - -I first saw the light--at least I did not exactly see the light, for I -was blind, so they tell me, for about a week after I was born--on the -twenty-third of April 19--. There were five of us, three boys and two -girls. Our mother was a pure-blooded Persian; so was our father, and -it was, I believe, considered by Them a very good match. They arrange -all our matches for us in this country, and indeed manage most of our -affairs, but then it must be remembered that we are strangers, as the -title Persian denotes. Moreover, we belong to that division of the race -that is called 'Blue Smokes,' which means, not that our fur is blue, -for that would be ugly and loud, but that if you part it and look -carefully at the roots you will see that it is exactly the shade of -blue that smoke is when you get a lot of it together. Papa's name is -'Blue Boy II.,' and he is excessively handsome, and has taken prizes at -cat-shows all over the country. His mistress, Miss Goddard, who lives -at West Dulwich, is always travelling about with him to show him, and -mother is very proud of that. - -The first sound that I heard--for I wasn't born deaf as well as -blind--was the voice of Rosamond, a little girl who lives in our house -sometimes, screeching at the top of her voice, 'Oh, Auntie, Auntie May! -Petronilla has got her kittens! Hooray! Hooray!' - -My mistress came running upstairs two steps at a time, and put her foot -through her dress--I heard it rip. Then she leaned over us, for I felt -her breath on my face, and said in a voice quite gurgly with pleasure, -'Brava, Petronilla!' - -Then another voice--I learnt afterwards that it was the voice of the -parlour-maid, a good soul and as fond of cats as Auntie May--said, -'They look just like so many grey boiled rags, don't they, Miss?' - -'Oh, p-p-please, Auntie May,' began Rosamond, stuttering in her -eagerness, 'mayn't I take one out to look at it?' - -'Certainly not. How dare you propose such a thing! Go and do your -health exercises. Petronilla is to be left entirely alone and not -bothered.' - -'Quite right, Miss Rosamond!' said Mary; 'I've heard say that if you -watch her she'll do them a mischief. I knew a cat what ate all her -kittens--' - -'Ssh, Mary, I am sure Petronilla would not do such a thing. She isn't a -common cat. But I tell you what she will certainly do if she thinks we -are going to touch them or take them away from her--she will hide them. -She knows it isn't good for them to be handled. You have no idea of the -amount cats know, and though Petronilla is only four years old, she -knows as much as the best nurse ever did. Now be off, all of you, and -leave her alone!' - -All very well, but Mary the maid simply couldn't keep away, and about -three days after this she came in to dust the room (although she had -been forbidden to do that just yet, for fear of blowing the germy dust -into our eyes and down our throats); and when she had done dusting, -she bent down and took us all out one by one, and examined us till -she was sure to know us again. Mother looked at her reproachfully, but -did not lift a paw to her, for she knew Mary was a dear good creature, -and, though silly, would sacrifice her life for a single grey hair off -mother's head, or indeed a hair of anywhere off her, and she once said -so. But when Mary had gone she took a decided line, and said that she -was determined to make an end of all this fingering and pawing of young -limbs, which would certainly prevent them from growing and developing -properly. - -There was a large press with low flat shelves in a corner of the room, -full of Auntie May's clothes, that just suited her purpose. She took -us all up, one by one, carefully, in her mouth, keeping her teeth back -somehow or other not to hurt us, though she could not help making us -most disagreeably wet, and carried us along to the cupboard, bumping us -as little as she could help on the floor, but still she did bump us. -Then with one of us in her mouth, she jumped up to the shelf she had -chosen--having first opened the folding doors of the cupboard with her -paws--and laid him or her carefully down in the corner, and so with us -all. - -When Auntie May came up to find her clothes for going out, she -discovered us. Mother purred at once to disarm her, for it was known -that Auntie May could not manage to be really cross with dear Pet for -long, IF she purred. - -'Oh, you _beast_--darling, I mean! Right on the top of my best white -wuffy hat! Come out of it at once, angel--pet! And here is another on -my ermine boa! And another on my best painted _crèpe de chine_ blouse! -Oh, this is too much, Petronilla, my lamb--' - -And she took us all out quite gently, not hurting us half so much as -mother did in bumping us along the floor, and put us back into our bed -of fresh hay, that we have to lie in so as to make us smell sweet. -Auntie May always says that very young infant kittens are like babies, -and need beautiful accessories, such as blue bows, and green hay, and -white powder puffs. - -They fastened the wardrobe door very tight and strictly forbade Mary -to touch us, and for many days after this we just lay still and -ate--ate--ate! Mother, however greedy we were, never pushed us away. -She was like a soft hill of wool that we had leave to lie up against -and browse upon. Every now and then she spread out her paws, which were -like silver streaks, wide and square, all over us, not heavily, so as -to weigh us down, but lightly, like a sort of lattice that kept the -cold draughts off us, and that we might fancy to be a wall or a hedge -between us and the world if we liked. - -It was the great advantage of mother's being a pet cat that she and her -family lived in the house, not in a cattery, as they are called. Mother -knew very well what a cattery was like--she had been in one before a -man bought her and gave her to Auntie May as a present. She cost three -guineas, she said. It was a very nice cattery, as catteries go--she -admits that--and she will always look upon it with affection as being -her first home, but still there was a lot of difference between it and -Auntie May's house. A cattery has generally hard trodden-in earth for a -floor, without a carpet, except for a few unhemmed bits spread here and -there. There's generally an old chair--wooden--to scrape your claws on: -now velvet, such as is kept here, mother says, is much more interesting -and efficacious. The bed is inside, under cover--I grant you that--but -only made out of a few old packing cases, and there is generally a -horrid smelly oil-lamp to warm the whole place. Now Auntie May had us -in her own bedroom for the first week of our lives, and when she did -move us, it was only into her study. She was an authoress and had to -have a study; at least her father, who was a distinguished painter and -R.A., and adores his daughter, thought she had as much right as he to -have a studio--same word as study. 'She sells her books, and I don't -sell my pictures!' he said. (I call her Auntie May because Rosamond -does, and because it sounds more respectful, and mother said I ought.) -Her study was quite nicely furnished and full of bureaus and manuscript -cupboards and high things to perch on. Mother says it is advisable when -choosing a perch to get as high as possible, because of the draughts -that run along the floors of even the best rooms. - -Mother told us many things as we lay there, but I can't say I took much -notice of them till my eyes opened. It was just a nice sleepy sound she -made that sent us off to bye-bye one after another. I suppose she slept -herself, but I never remember being awake when she wasn't. She was a -very good mother; she hardly ever left us. Of course she got out of the -bed to eat her meals; she detested crumbs in the bed, and so on. If she -went away she always came back with a kind sort of speech--Rosamond -called it a mew--something like 'Here we are again!' or 'Well, how -goes it, infants?' and then lay down right on the top of us. Rosamond -used to scold her and pull her off us, thinking she would hurt us; she -didn't know that we were always able to ooze away from under mother -quite easily when once she had turned round three times and got settled. - -Till my eyes opened I did not know how many brothers and sisters I -had, except for mother's telling me. I fought them all without having -the slightest idea of the sort of thing I was fighting. I knew it -had claws, though. I knew that Fred B. Nicholson, as they called him -afterwards, after Auntie May's American cousin, was a regular bully -from the beginning, always putting himself forward, and shoving us away -from the best places. After all, eating is everything in those first -days, and mother was singularly weak where Fred was concerned, and let -him batter us as much as he liked, and never took our side against him. -She only said 'First come, first served!' and 'Heaven helps those that -help themselves!' and certainly he did grow a great strong boy. - -Perhaps that was the reason why his eyes opened first! - -Rosamond gave us a great deal of attention when her own lessons were -over, and before, and hung over us till she got all the blood to her -head, she said. She called herself cat-maid. One day when she was -leaning over our bed, she suddenly jumped up and screamed: - -'Oh, Auntie May, one of them--I don't even know which, but I think it -is Fred B. Nicholson--has got a tiny, tiny slit where his eyes ought to -be! Do you suppose he can see?' - -I felt the first grief of my life. I _knew_ there was no slit where -_my_ eyes ought to be, and I felt sure it _was_, as Rosamond guessed, -that horrid boy Fred, who always got first in everything. Next day the -slit in his face was bigger. That evening they said with certainty, -'Yes, Fred can see!' In the daylight Rosamond discovered that his eyes -were blue. By that time _I_ saw what looked like a streak of light, -and guessed that my eyes were going to open soon, and wondered if they -would be blue too! I asked mother, and she laughed at Rosamond and at -me, saying that all kittens' eyes are blue at first. Even Rosamond -ought to have known that. The question was, would they be green or -orange afterwards? - -'I should be very sorry,' mother said, 'if any of you turned out to -have green eyes. That would defeat all poor Auntie May's plans. I have -green eyes myself, alas! and she is most good to overlook it in me, -but your father has the most beautiful golden eyes in the world, or in -any cat-show, and let us hope that you will have the luck to take after -him!' - -Fred began, the others followed. My eyes were the last to open. I -suppose I had caught cold; I am sure I was not delicate. They took warm -milk and mopped the place where the eyes ought to be. Mother licked me. -They raced to cure me. Mother always said that she backed her licking, -but I fancy the warm milk did it, myself. And pretty soon I saw. We all -saw, and so when we quarrelled we managed to aim better. - -I really saw very little besides untidy spiky bits of hay sticking up -all round me, and beyond that, a wall of wicker. I sometimes saw great -moonfaces bending over me, and Rosamond's long golden fur tickled me as -she put her head right into the basket. _She_ had blue eyes, but then -she was still a child. I wondered if they would be green or orange when -she grew up? Auntie May's were brown, shot with green; she had quite -dark fur too, and tied up, not hanging down like Rosamond's. - -If I chose to keep my eyes _inside_ the basket, I saw my mother's -green eyes, and they were so pretty and mournful. Auntie May used to -call them Burne-Jones eyes. She meant it as a compliment, and mother -always purred. She loved being praised. - -Though Freddy's eyes were open, he could not scratch himself with his -hind leg without falling over, and I could. Then I found that _I_ could -do something else Freddy could not, that is, make a queer rolling, -rumbling, useless sound in my throat. I don't see much good in it -myself, but it gives Them pleasure. They take it as if we were saying -'Thank you' when we are given food or stroked. But no one, not even the -vet,--that is the cat doctor--know how it is done. I heard him say so. -I have not the slightest idea how I do it. I just listened to mother, -and brooded over the thought for days, and all of a sudden I woke up, -as Rosamond was tickling my stomach, and found myself r-r-ring away -somewhere inside me like anything! Mother even started when she heard -me; I am not sure she was altogether glad. - -'Poor child!' she said, 'he is taking up his burden early. They mostly -don't expect recognition from us until we are older. Don't, don't purr -too easily, my son; be chary of your gift: it is wiser.' But Rosamond -buried her face in me and mother, so as to hear better, and presently -she raised it and called out to Auntie May, who was sitting writing at -her little table: - -'Oh, Auntie May'--(all her sentences began like that)--'this kitten, -who was so late with his eyes, is at any rate the first to purr! Purr, -darling, purr!' - -I purred till my throat was sore, and she stroked my back and tickled -my stomach till I had to curl up and bring my hind legs and my head -together. They think you do it because you like being tickled, not -because you can't help it. I purred so much that day that I had to take -a rest the next, and then They said I was sulky! - -And Freddy was jealous. He could not purr, though he _could_ spit. -Mother reproves him, for she says that spitting, though a useful weapon -and a protection against intrusive aliens, is not to be used in private -life between cat and cat. It is good for dogs, if I ever see one. -Mother uses it but rarely for Them. I asked her why she didn't spit at -the people in the house, who, though well-meaning, irritated her by -coming and lifting us out and looking us all over, and talking about -our points, and preventing us from growing? She said, 'I don't do it -to Them, however annoying they are, because, when all is said and done, -I am well bred and Persian.' - -I knew mother never said a thing like that without being able to prove -it, so I was a little surprised one day at what one of Auntie May's -friends said. This man took Fred up and handled him as if he didn't -know much about kittens. I watched him. His moonface had a queer little -smile much too small for it--a sly smile. - -'Touch of Persian about this cat, I should say!' he observed quietly. - -'Why, they _are_ Persian, Mr. Blake!' Rosamond cried out; but Auntie -May said nothing, but simply hoofed him out of her room and ours. His -little smile had grown bigger. - -After he had gone, mother boiled with rage. - -'I won't stand this!' she exclaimed. 'Come along, my traduced darlings, -with me, and we will hide you, lest you be again exposed to insolent -criticism of that kind. Touch of Persian indeed! Perhaps he thinks -Persians haven't claws! Perhaps he thinks we cannot resent injuries -adequately! Come, my pure-bred doves! Come, my prize darlings, my -pedigree'd angels!' - -The door into Auntie May's bedroom next door was left open. Mother -carried us in one by one and laid us on the ground under the famous -cupboard we had been in before, while she leaned up and, with her paw, -turned the handle of the cupboard door. Then she seized me and jumped -with me on to the bottom shelf and stowed me in one corner, pulling -the clothes and what not that was there all over me, so as to hide me -completely. She then left me, recommending me to silence, or I should -get 'what for' with her hind feet, and fetched the others one by one. -She placed them all on different shelves--I saw her leap past me each -time--and stayed herself with Fred, for I did not see her go past -again. That was a long jump, for it took her right up to the fifth -shelf. - -All the afternoon we lay there, mother visiting us all in turn. -Unfortunately, she had not been able to succeed in closing the wardrobe -door after her. It yawned in the most suspicious manner, and so Auntie -May thought when she came back from Pinner, where she had gone to dine -and sleep, as soon as Mr. Blake had departed. About eleven o'clock the -next morning she came bouncing in in her hat and jacket, and the moment -her eye fell on the open door she cried out: - -'Oh, my prophetic soul! Come here at once, Rosamond, or you will be -sorry!' - -She opened the door wider and looked in, but, naturally, could see -nothing. - -'It _looks_ all right!' she said to Rosamond. 'But all the same I feel -sure that Petronilla is somewhere inside. Isn't my _crèpe de chine_ -blouse in that corner rucked up rather suspiciously? Gently! Don't let -us spoil poor Petronilla's game of "Hide-and-Seek." We mustn't find -them too soon.' - -Fred was under the _crèpe de chine_ blouse, and they found him. Then -they found the other boy, with some artificial violets she wears -pinned on to the front of her dress in the evening on top of him. On -the top story one of the girls was curled into the crown of a hat, and -mother was in the lowest shelf with the other, mixed up with an ermine -boa. The play lasted quite ten minutes, and Rosamond was delighted. -Very little damage was done; in fact, as mother said, a clean, -well-licked-every-day cat, if you don't frighten him and drive him to -desperation, rarely spoils clothes, or breaks ornaments, or leaves any -trace of his presence. But if you chivy him or make him nervous, he -doesn't choose to hold himself accountable for any harm he may happen -to do, naturally! - -There were five of us, and, so far, only Fred B. Nicholson had been -christened. Rosamond, who is a child who loves putting things into -their right places and calling them by their proper names, pointed this -out to her Aunt. - -'There are certain royalties,' said Auntie May, 'whose religion cannot -be chosen till they have grown up and it is decided whom they are to -marry. The same with kittens' names. The naming ought to be left to the -people with whom they are eventually going to live. I can't keep more -than one of them, you know. We should be what they call _cat-ridden_.' - -This was the first I heard of it. From that day the thought hung -over me that our pleasant little party would have to be broken up. I -wondered if I could possibly contrive to be the one They kept. I could -not bear the idea of moving to a new home. But mother said it was the -law of nature. Her motto was from a poem of Miss Jean Ingelow that -Auntie May had once quoted-- - - _To hear, to nurse, to rear, - To love and then to lose...._ - -She never worried--much, though she confessed at first it was rather -trying, and that she caught herself wandering about looking into -corners, searching for what she knew went away in a basket the day -before. It was just a habit mothers got into, and when a few weeks had -elapsed she just shook herself and thought no more of the kitten that -had gone to make its mark on some one else's chair cushions. 'Dear me!' -she used to say, 'I have on an average five kittens a year. What should -I do with them all hanging about, getting in my way at every turn? I -should become irritable, I should snap at them, I should positively -hate them as soon as they became independent and I could do nothing for -them. It is best as it is.' - -After that speech of mother's, I was not so sure that I wanted to be -the kitten They chose to keep, that is, if mother meant to turn round -and bully me as soon as I could stand up for myself. It seemed strange -to hear her talk like that, and yet one likes to be forewarned. - -Rosamond gave us temporary names--reach-me-down names, she called them. -Fred B. Nicholson was allowed to stand; the boy Auntie May called -Admiral Togo, a Japanese name, I understand. The two girls were -Zobeide and Blanch. I was called Loki, after the devil. - -They did not know, but we all had one name already, a traditional one -in our family. It was Pasht. Our ancestors lived at a place called -Bubastis. For convenience' sake, however, we stuck to the names They -gave us. They seemed to have an idea that we should answer to them and -come when we were called, but mother told us on no account ever to do -so, it would be false to every tradition of our class. We might go as -far as to twitch an ear when we heard our name spoken pleasantly, but -only on the very rarest occasions were we to stir a paw. Then, if we -decided to go to Them, it was at least manners to stop half-way and -scratch. If the name was spoken in an unfriendly tone, the thing to -do was just to stare the impertinent creature down. At Bubastis, in -the olden time, our ancestors had been worshipped and prayed to. In -the studio downstairs, where mother had been a constant visitor in the -days when she was free of domestic cares, there is one of our ancestors -under a glass case just as he was buried when he died thousands of -years ago. He is all wrapped in a sort of brown greased cloth, so -mother says, many hundred folds of it, but still you can perfectly -well see the original shape of our many-hundreds-of-times-over -great-uncle. Nobody has ever unwrapped him; it would be very wicked -to do it, and might bring misfortune on the house. Altogether he is -treated with the greatest respect, and mother is quite content to have -it so. We are taught to look on that room not as the studio as They -do, but as the Family Tomb, and mother says that when we grow up and -are permitted to sit there sometimes, we must all keep very quiet and -behave seriously and do no romping. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - ONE LESS THAN FIVE - - -One morning we woke up, and found mother had left us. The window was -open, and mother had suddenly felt tired of nursing and as if she must -have a breath of fresh air. She was outside on a kind of coping there -was all round the house. Nobody was worrying at all when in came Mary -and Rosamond. They called to mother to come in at once, for it was -blowing a cold east wind, and then suddenly they discovered that she -was in difficulties. She had jumped off the coping to another piece -that stuck out at the side, and now, though she wanted to come back, -her resolution had deserted her, and she thought she should never be -able to do it. She told us all this, but Mary and Rosamond only thought -she was crying out piteously. - -'She can do it quite easily, Miss, if she will only face it,' said -Mary. 'It stands to reason that if she could jump there, she can jump -back!' - -'Of course, Mary,' said Rosamond. 'What you can do once you can do -again. Come, you silly-billy! Jump! Don't be a coward!' - -Mother explained that the more she thought about it, the more she -couldn't do it, and that perhaps if they would go away and leave her -to herself, she would feel differently, but of course they couldn't -understand her. They took a small chair and held it out of the window -with one hand. Mother knew that if she were to leap upon that, her -weight would make them drop it, and, sure enough, they did drop it all -the same, and it went clattering down into the garden below. Then they -said 'Ow! Whatever'll Miss May say?' and shut the window. Mother was -glad of that, for the wind was really too cold for us as we lay inside, -and as a matter of fact she was not in the slightest danger if only -they would go away, go downstairs and pick up the pieces of the chair -in the garden. She mildly suggested it to them, but they did not even -begin to understand. - -'Aw, poor thing, don't her mew come faint-like through the window!' -said that silly Mary. 'You and me can't both leave her, Miss. Shall -one of us go and fetch Miss May?' - -'Do, do go away!' implored mother, 'and then I shall be able to make my -jump!' - -'I have an idea!' said Rosamond, and she came to our basket and picked -up Zobeide, and carried her to the window and held her out to mother. -Of course Zobeide screamed, and poor mother couldn't stand that and -her legs obeyed her unconsciously and brought her in at once. She said -'Thank you' to Rosamond as she crossed the sill and walloped back into -her bed and begged them to shut the window, which of course they didn't -do, and it was open half-an-hour later when Auntie May came up from -her singing lesson and Rosamond told her with pride what she had done. -Auntie May knows a great deal about cats. She said at once that it -wasn't necessary, that Petronilla would have known quite enough to come -in of her own accord, and that it was too cold a day to hold a young -kitten out in the raw air; still, as far as she could see, we were all -perfectly well, and feeding away busily, so probably no harm was done. - -Mother said to us that she wasn't quite so sure of that, for the wind -was very cold, and she took particular care of Zobeide, and gave her -the best place, and cuddled her till Zobeide squealed and said she -didn't like affection if it meant being held so tight. - -Next morning, when Auntie May came and stood over the basket, she -seemed very grave. - -'Rosamond, come here,' she said. 'Which kitten did you hold out of the -window?' - -'I am afraid I don't quite know which,' Rosamond said, very much -puzzled and upset, as I could tell by her voice. 'It was _one_ of the -girls, Blanch or Zobeide, but I am sure I could not say which of them. -Why? What is the matter?' - -'Come and look!' said Auntie May. - -Then I myself noticed for the first time that Blanch was lying a little -way off mother, and breathing very funnily. Her body seemed to break in -half under the skin with every breath she took, and she gave a great -shake right across her. She was flattened out and her legs parted wide -so that her chest was spread along the floor of the basket. She made a -rushing noise with her breathing like what one hears when the bath is -filling. - -'She looks just like a frog!' said Rosamond. 'Oh, Auntie May, is she -ill, and is it my fault?' - -'Do you think it was Blanch you held over the window?' - -'I said before I don't know, but perhaps it was.' - -'It looks rather like it,' said Auntie May sadly, and put on her hat -and jacket and fetched the doctor. - -'Lor', for a kitten!' said Mary. - -'It's worth three guineas if it lives, Mary,' said Rosamond through her -tears. 'But it won't, and it will be my fault. I have murdered it!' - -'Don't cry, pretty child!' mother said to her. 'It was Zobeide you held -out of the window, and look at her sleeping so sweetly here under my -paw! This is Blanch who is dying, and it is the will of Providence.' - -Poor Rosamond couldn't understand her, and began to abuse her for her -calmness. - -'You _are_ a heartless old thing, Petronilla, you are! Look at you, -calmly nursing four kittens, while one of them is too ill even to eat!' - -'Of course it will not eat. It will die,' said mother gently, and as -usual Rosamond didn't understand. - -'Oh yes, you may mew, and try to palaver me, but that won't stop me -thinking you a heartless beast!' - -'I _am_ a beast,' answered mother sweetly. - -'Oh, please, please, make it eat! or else it will starve!' - -'It _will_ starve,' said mother, but she made no opposition when -Rosamond tried to make the poor little Blanch feed like the rest of us. -We had never stopped eating; we knew we couldn't do anything for poor -Blanch, and we knew, too, that it was Zobeide who had been held out of -the window, and longed to tell May she was mistaken and put her out of -her misery. When Dr. Hobday came twenty minutes later, we had to listen -to Auntie May telling him the story, and asking him if that was what -had made Blanch ill? - -'It is very unlikely,' said he. 'This kitten was probably unhealthy -from the first. It has pneumonia now, and I am afraid in such a young -kitten the case is pretty well hopeless; but we will try to save it, if -you think it worth while?' - -'It is _not_ worth while,' said mother loudly and clearly, but, of -course, no one took any notice of her--she was _called_ the Talking -Cat, but they didn't really think it was talking, only general -friendliness--and Auntie May said she meant to try and save Blanch's -life. - -First of all Blanch was put into a separate basket, lined with -flannel; a piece of flannel was to be sewn round her with little holes -for her front paws to go out of. She had to lie on a hot bottle. The -temperature of the room had to be kept up to sixty-three degrees. She -was to be fed every two hours, on a mixture of milk and sugar and hot -water, about equal parts, so as to make something as like mother's milk -as possible. - -'I shall have to sit up with her,' said Auntie May, 'or buy an alarm -clock to wake me up every two hours.' - -'Oh, Auntie May, do let _me_ sit up!' cried Rosamond. - -'Why, you are but a kitten yourself!' - -'Ah, but I'm over three years old,' said Rosamond. 'I am twelve years -old. I suppose that represents a kitten's twelve weeks, doesn't it? So -this kitten is three weeks, that is to say three years old.' - -'It is a baby in arms,' said Auntie May, 'and is going to be fed with a -bottle, like other babies.' - -She had got a doll's feeding-bottle she had bought once at a bazaar, -and she tried that, but it was defective and would not let the milk -run through. Then she got her stylographic pen-filler and dipped that -in the milk she had arranged and sucked some up, and squirted it out -into Blanch's mouth, and really got some in that way; but it was a slow -business, and poor Blanch used to hate being disturbed dreadfully. -She was too young to talk, but she used to get into a regular temper -sometimes and turn away her body with a scraping noise in her throat -that meant how disgusted she was with life and people trying to cure -her. - -She was an awfully pretty kitten. 'Oh, you _are_ a beauty,' Auntie May -used to say, 'and I wish I could save you.' - -Blanch had been much more forward in some ways than the rest of us; -she had climbed all over Auntie May, and had a strong little back, and -could sit up and look grown up, though she was only three. Her fur was -nice too, a very much lighter grey than Zobeide's or mine, and her head -very broad, and the distance between her small ears very great. - -Her sick-basket was in a different part of the room from ours; _we_ -could not, of course, get out to look at her, and I don't believe -mother ever did. Auntie May did not seem to expect her to. She always -told her how Blanch was, and mother used to say that Blanch was in -good hands, and that Auntie May could do what _she_ could not do -for Blanch, feed her through stylographic pens, for instance. But -she always said that though it was very good of Auntie May to devote -herself so, she could not alter the result of Blanch's illness; no sick -kitten as young as that could possibly recover. If only it had learned -to feed itself, there would be a chance for it, and not much even then. -She was glad for our sakes that Auntie May had parted us; she believed -in the segregation of invalids. She had learned that hard long word in -the cattery. - -After two days the doctor came and looked at Blanch. He didn't take her -up. - -'This kitten is better!' he said in a surprised tone. 'It breathes more -freely. You may save it yet. If you want to apply for the post of nurse -for animals I'll recommend you, Miss Graham.' - -The day after that Blanch was so much better that Auntie May went to a -party which was given in a house near by. She was to be only two hours -away. She fed Blanch at nine, after she was dressed, kneeling down -beside her in her new pink dress. Having left Blanch quite comfortable, -and pretty well, hardly coughing at all, she went away singing down the -stairs. Rosamond was, of course, in bed. She went to bed at half-past -eight, and made a great fuss about it every night. We four went to -sleep. Mother liked the temperature kept at sixty degrees; _à quelque -chose malheur est bon_, she said, which means bad-luck is good for -something, and sent us to sleep with her soft purring. - -Punctually at eleven I was awakened by the swish of Auntie May's dress -on the stairs, and she came up followed by Mary, and the electric light -was turned full on. - -'Bring me my traps, Mary,' said Auntie May, and she sat down just as -she was and began to mix the water and sweetened hot milk. When she had -got it ready she leaned over the patient, and then called out. - -'Come here, Mary,' she said in a queer voice. 'This kitten is dying!' - -'The doctor said it was better, Miss.' - -'So it is better--its breathing is better--but it is dying all the -same. Look at its eyes!' - -'Just like my old aunt's died last June! Well, Miss, it's only a kitten -after all!' - -Auntie May held Blanch up in her two hands and looked at her. She gave -her her medicine and a little drop--a real drop, not what the cook -here calls a drop--of brandy, but Blanch let it all roll out of her -mouth and on to the pink gown. I knew that from what Mary said: 'Lor', -Miss, your nice gown!' - -'It's no good, Mary. Its eyes are glazing already. They look tormented. -We mustn't plague her any more. Bring Petronilla!' - -'How absurd!' said mother, as Mary lifted her out. - -Auntie May showed her Blanch, whom she had laid back in her bed. -Blanch's head had rolled quite uncomfortably back, and her eyes saw -nothing. She was almost gone. - -Mother didn't do at all what they expected, though; indeed, I don't -know whether they expected her to bring Blanch back from the grave in -some mysterious way that mothers ought to know of. Mother had no way. -She knew it was no good. To satisfy them she did something. She licked -and rolled Blanch over in her bed with her tongue--roughly, I suppose, -from the way they spoke. - -'She's killed it!' said Auntie May. 'Look, it's dead!' - -She took Blanch up, and Blanch's head fell back over her hand and a -film came over her eyes--so Auntie May said afterwards. - -Poor Auntie May put Blanch down again, and cried as if her heart would -break. - -'I nursed it--I took such care--and he said I had saved it, and no, -it's dead--oh!--oh!--' - -'Don't cry, Miss May, don't cry so,' Mary begged. 'It's only a kitten -at that. We'll bury it in the garden. It will be our first funeral; -there's a nice little place back of them trees, I've often thought -of it for that. Here, let me get you out of your dress. I'll put the -corpse in the bathroom till the morning. What'll ever your father think -if he hears you crying like this over a kitten, and wake Miss Rosamond, -too!' - -Then Auntie May stopped, because she wasn't selfish, and let Mary put -her to bed, and went to sleep very soon after. I asked mother if she -wouldn't mind telling me why she had licked Blanch so hard. - -'My dear child,' mother said, 'I daresay you and Auntie May consider me -very unfeeling, and think it very odd that she should do all the crying -instead of me; but then you must realise that I was never in favour of -nursing Blanch and trying to keep her alive. She was delicate and bound -to die sooner or later. It is a great mistake to try to preserve the -lives of kittens that are weak and feeble from the very beginning, -and no sensible cat would ever countenance such a proceeding. They do -as they choose with theirs, and a nice lot of invalids, cripples, and -criminals They raise up to make difficulties afterwards for them! As -a matter of fact, Blanch _was_ cured of her illness, and I don't deny -any of the credit to Auntie May of having done it--I couldn't have done -it myself--but, as the doctor will tell her to-morrow, the child died -of heart-failure. I knew it would go like that. When they called me in -I had to do something for form's sake, and I licked her. Poor little -dear, we must forget about this closing scene of her very short career, -and try to grow up healthy ourselves. That I look upon as a cat's first -duty. You ask why? In the battle of life the weaklings must go under. -Now feed properly and don't choke, as you are sure to do if you are -greedy and in too much of a hurry.' - -Rosamond was told about Blanch next day, and she cried too. Fresh from -my mother's lecture I looked upon her almost with disgust. The silly -child talked of going into mourning, and, sure enough, she found an -old bit of black crape somewhere and sewed it on the arm of her frock. -I had no patience with her. We relations were, on the contrary, -forbidden to make any difference, and mother was even gay, though I -noticed a tear in her eyes sometimes when nobody was looking. I heard -Rosamond propose to bring poor Blanch, who by now, she said, had grown -quite stiff, to show to her mother for a last look before she was -buried; but, to mother's great relief, Mary had taken Blanch and buried -her before breakfast by Auntie May's orders. - -'Don't be morbid, my dear child!' Auntie May said, when Rosamond -complained of what Mary had done. 'I don't like any one to gloat over -funerals, much less children. You must forget Blanch, poor dear Blanch, -who made such a brave fight for her life, and remember that there are -four left.' - -So you see in the main she said the same thing as mother, which -convinces me, as I said before, that she knew a good deal about cats. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - TO LAP OR NOT TO LAP - - -'It is time they were taught to lap!' said Auntie May. - -'Oh, Auntie May,' cried Rosamond, 'how dreadfully exciting! I was -wondering when you were going to begin that! It _will_ be dreadfully -exciting, won't it?' - -'It will be dreadfully messy,' answered Auntie May. 'I must do it in an -old frock and my art pinafore.' - -'Oh, Auntie May, I shall love to see you in a pinafore! You will look -like a big French doll--that one of mine that Kitty spoiled.' - -'Hush, don't speak ill of the absent. I daresay Kitty enjoyed the -destruction of Wilhelmina very much, as much as Petronilla liked -mumbling my white satin shoes last year. I forgave her. One must pay -for one's pets.' - -'And I forgave Kitty,' said Rosamond; 'besides, I am twelve now and -past dolls. When shall we begin to feed the kittens?' - -'Wait a bit!' mother said; but, of course, once having got the idea -into Their heads, they took no notice. Auntie May got the big pinafore -she had when she was an art student, out of a box, and put it on. Then -she fetched a tiny china spoon with forget-me-nots all over it, and -sent Rosamond down for some milk and some hot water. Then Rosamond and -she squatted down on the floor beside our bed, and mother eyed them -scornfully over the edge of it. - -'Now, you silly old Petronilla, we are going to relieve you of some -of your work. Four kittens are too much for you. You are beginning to -look rather fagged in spite of Beef-tea and Kreochyle and Hovis food. -Children, dear, you cost a pretty penny.' - -These were the names of some of the messes They were continually -bringing up in saucers and planting out by mother's bedside, and which -she hopped out and licked up and came back again saying that Auntie May -had a feeling heart and that she adored her, since, as every one ought -to know, the way to a cat's heart is through its stomach, whatever may -be the cause of affection afterwards. And mother did love Auntie May -quite desperately much, and Auntie May could always see it in her eyes, -though mother was not otherwise demonstrative. - -Well, as I was saying, they managed to unhitch Fred's claws and mouth, -and laid him in Auntie May's lap, and put the point of the little china -spoon in between his teeth. He sputtered and choked, and he seemed to -have a white beard when they let him alone again. - -'He isn't taking any this time!' said Auntie May. There were white -streams wandering through the rucks of her pinafore. - -'Of course he is not taking any of your extraordinary preparation,' -said mother. 'You are in too great a hurry to have him lap. He won't do -it a moment before he is ready, and that will be when I decide to begin -to wean him. You can try every day and you won't do him any harm, but -you will only wet your pinafore.' - -It was quite true. We none of us felt as if we could touch Auntie May's -mixture, we so very much preferred mother's. Auntie May put us all back -again, and stood up and shook herself, and the milk we hadn't taken ran -down the creases of her pinafore on to the floor. They both went -away, and Rosamond, as she went out of the door, recommended mother to -tidy it by licking it up, partly in joke--at least mother took it that -way, for, as she said, she was not a common cat, to eat up slops, and -they would have to send Mary to wash it away with a cloth. - -[Illustration: THE MILK RAN DOWN THE CREASES TO THE FLOOR.] - -Next morning They tried us again, but still we couldn't, and Rosamond -seemed so terribly disappointed that we asked mother to tell us how it -was done. - -'You have to put your tongue over the milk and catch some of it up in -the curve of it, and flick it into your throat in the same movement. -That's all there is!' - -'And quite enough,' sighed lazy Freddy. - -'Dogs do it differently,' mother continued. 'They put their tongue -_under_ the milk or water, or whatever it is they want to drink, but -they toss it into their mouths in precisely the same way.' - -'I shall never do it,' poor Zobeide complained. 'You will have to nurse -me all my days, mother.' - -'You great fat podge!' I said. (Zobeide was very roundabout.) 'Mother -can't nurse you when you are taken away from her and sold, as you are -sure to be. Then you will get thinner and thinner, till you starve, -unless they feed you with a stylographic penholder, like poor Blanch; -but she was an invalid.' - -'Don't jar, children,' mother said, 'but give your minds to business. -To-morrow, when they begin teaching you again, don't sputter so much, -but try and make a start. It comes all at once, and once gained you -never lose the art. You try and you seem no nearer, and suddenly--you -find you can do it! Now I will tell you as a fact that I shan't be -able to feed you exclusively for much longer. I don't know about -looking fagged, but I certainly begin to feel it. I can't, for all the -trouble I take, keep my coat as nice as I should like to, and that is -a sure sign that the fatigue is beginning to tell on me. Four great -kittens! They ought to have got a foster-mother--and I should not have -liked that altogether! But I tell you that the time has come when you -must all try to reinforce me and supplement what I can give you from -extraneous sources.' Mother did use nice long words. - -So next day, when they brought the whole set-out, I thought I would -really have a good try, and I swallowed down the spoonful of milk -without sputtering. But _that_ wasn't lapping, mother called loudly -from the bed. I was stung by that, so when Auntie May put a little milk -in a very flat saucer and ducked my head in it, I stayed in a minute -and worked my tongue about. When I could positively bear it no longer, -I came up again spitting and sputtering, not a drop of milk having -gone down my throat. But I found that if she didn't roughly shove my -head in, but let me bend over the saucer myself, and not go deep in, -but skim about on the top, I could manage to flick up a little; though -perhaps I only fancied I had done that, from the milk that got on to -the fur about my mouth. It really was not at all bad stuff. Auntie May -still went on putting the point of the little spoon down my throat, and -I got a certain amount of milk into me that way, and wasn't so hungry -afterwards. Fred, I must say, had no perseverance. He sulked and tossed -his head, jibbed, as Auntie May called it, and would have nothing to -say to the spoon; while as for the saucer, he walked straight across -that and out on the other side. _I_ couldn't do the things Freddy does; -he has a 'cheek,' Auntie May says, and Rosamond says he is like Kitty, -whom I have never seen, but, judging from all they say of her, she must -be the naughtiest kitten in Yorkshire. When Freddy has walked right -through the saucer and is all whitened, he sits down and drinks the -milk off his toes, showing that he knows quite well it is meant to eat, -not to bathe in, and, as Auntie May says, simply defies her. - -The bad example of my brother made me somehow determine I would -accomplish lapping, and, sure enough, next day I did. You should have -heard the noise They all made! - -'Loki can do it! Loki has done it! He's lapped three laps! He is -getting some into his mouth! He has lapped first! Hooray! Bravo, Loki!' - -I heard Them, but I did not look round till I had lapped right down to -the pattern on the saucer. Then I raised my head proudly. Everything -looked quite different now somehow. I felt another kitten. Yet nothing -really was changed. Rosamond's moonface was as round as ever, Auntie -May was still sitting there with her apron full of great pools where -Fred and Zobeide and Admiral Togo had let it run down out of the -corners of their mouths, mother was purring away and looking at us all -with her great big mournful eyes. - -In less than a week I was no better or cleverer than everybody else. -The others could do it too, but they hated the bother of it. The other -way is really so much more convenient. And mother prefers it; she says -that it brings us together. She says: - -'As long as I nurse you children, I shall be devoted to you. I shall -cosset you and shield you and watch over you, and get miserable if you -are in a draught or let people handle you or tease you, and so on; but -once you can look after yourselves, it will be a very different pair of -paws, I warn you! That is cat rule all the world over. I shall not, I -hope, be actually unkind, but I shall take the very slightest notice of -you. Out of the nursery, out of mind. Lost to sight, to memory you will -not be dear, for if I allowed myself to become unduly fond of any one -of my children, how could I bear to have that child taken from me? One -has to steel oneself. They under whom we live are responsible, though, -perhaps, in a state of nature, in that jungle of which I have visions -and of which I dream at night as if it were my kingdom, it would be the -same--I cannot tell.' - -We all said politely, 'Oh, mother, I am sure you would never be -unkind,' but indeed afterwards we found she spoke quite truly. She -could not help it; it was the way she was made. Cats have the softest -outsides, but the hardest hearts of all animals. Later on, nobody -would have known that she was my mother from the way she bullied -me, and let out with her paws when I passed her sometimes, without -the slightest warning, and didn't seem to care when I hurt myself -at all. There was the time when I was ill and fed out of that very -forget-me-not spoon that ought to have stirred up tender recollections. -I bit a piece out of that spoon in a fit of temper one day when I felt -particularly bad, and was in a blue rage in consequence. I damaged the -spoon, of course, as mother pointed out, but I hurt myself far more. I -bled, and the spoon did not. It had a rivet put in it and was as well -as ever again. - -I felt mother's unkindness very much, and it was of a piece with many -other bits of her conduct. I have got over it now; indeed, I have had -my revenge if I had wanted it, when I saw her making a slave of herself -over another lot of kittens just as she had done over us. She began -to be grateful to me then, for I made myself useful taking her place -in the basket sometimes, and keeping the little wretches warm while -she took a turn and stretched her legs, and went to look if Auntie May -had been given or had bought anything new. Mother always took notice -of that sort of thing; nothing new that came into the house ever -escaped her for long. She even knew when Mr. Graham was engaged on a -different picture, at least he said she did. She used to stand on her -hind legs and plant her fore paws on the ledge of the easel and look -at the painting he was doing quite gravely. The artist himself was -certain that she knew, and he used to tickle her neck with his brush -or his mahl-stick and say, 'Well, Petronilla, do you approve of my new -subject?' That is how mother ascertained that it _was_ new, for if he -had covered all the canvas up, without leaving one little weeny corner -white, how on earth could a poor cat tell? While she was away on these -voyages of discovery, I curled round the kittens, and they liked me for -about ten minutes till they found I was not their mother. I could not -feed them, only wash them, and that I did very nicely and thoroughly, -so that mother said when she came back that she could not have done it -better herself. - -[Illustration: SHE USED TO STAND ON HER HIND LEGS AND LOOK AT THE -PAINTING.] - -But this state of things was not until much later; for the present -we four were the kittens of the hour, and she petted us, and was the -dearest, sweetest little mother in the world. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE SCHOOLROOM - - -We soon could do more than lap, we could eat things. Auntie May and -Rosamond had a chafing-dish, and they used to cook all sorts of messes -in it for us and for mother, who was very fussy about her food, and -took dislikes to the most ordinary things. For instance, porridge -she would not touch, or cod-liver oil biscuits, while Hovis food, or -Horlick's, or a sardine put her out of her mind with delight. They say -that a sardine will sometimes bring a dying cat back to life. They -burnt methylated spirit in the chafing-dish, and the first time I -saw the sly curling flame winding up among Auntie May's new novel, I -confess I was frightened. But mother reassured us; she said if I looked -attentively I would see that it was a very obedient flame, and would -go straight up into the air and do no harm unless they interrupted it. -She gave it a wide berth herself, and hoped we would do the same when -we began to be able to get out of our basket and walk about. Auntie -May and Rosamond were not so very careful, for once when they thought -the spirit was getting low, Rosamond took the whole bottle and poured -some more on. Huh! it took fire, and she dropped it pretty quick, and -it broke, and there were three separate burning pools on the floor. -Mother put a paw over us all, though we could not have got out of the -bed even if we had wanted to, and gripped Freddy by the neck, ready to -lift him out if it should be necessary. Luckily Auntie May was there, -and there was a large flowerpot full of earth in the room. She tilted -out the flower, head over roots, and poured the earth on the burning -pools, instead of the water which Rosamond had torn off to the bathroom -to get. It was soon out, and the poor child got a scolding and a lesson -in chemistry from her grandpapa. - -They had not got proper things to work with, mother said. They had no -spoon, but used to stir up the mixture with the butt-end of one of -Auntie May's pens. When it was ready, they would pour it out into any -piece of china that was handy--Japanese pots and plates that cost a -fortune, so I was told. Then they washed them up in the bath, and we -used to hear this sort of thing: 'Mind that cloisonné, Rosamond!' or, -'That is a bit of Persian four-mark you have chipped, I do believe!' -But it was no matter, they got a new bit out of the studio. Mr. Graham -was a collector, and nothing was too good for the cats. - -Up to now, none of us had ever succeeded in getting out of the bed by -ourselves. We were lifted out by them to walk about a little, keeping -our stomachs off the ground with great difficulty. Our legs had a -strange tendency to slip away beyond us, 'doing splits' as they do in -the pantomime--so Auntie May called our way of getting ourselves along. -When at last we did succeed in keeping our legs at right angles to our -bodies, we wobbled sadly, and longed to be put back again among the -hay. But at times, when we weren't eating or sleeping, but thoroughly -awake, and there wasn't much doing in the old dull bed, we used to -try to get out of it. We three boys used to make a ladder of Zobeide, -and, propping ourselves up on her, get over the edge in a jerk, but at -first we could only one of us look over, and then Zobeide would meanly -crumble away under us, and pitch us all head-over-heels into the bed -again. She took an unfair advantage, too, and bit our hind legs. - -One day, however, I managed to climb up without the help of Zobeide, -till my paws rested on the top of the basket, and I was screwing up -my hind legs till they came nearly up to join the front ones, when -somebody--I believe it was Rosamond--gave the after-part of me a push -and I came over on to the floor on my nose, which, luckily, is flat, -not Roman. I rose unsteadily, and walked away like one in a dream. I -think I must have walked right out of the door and into the bathroom. -Rosamond was behind me, and I had a sort of feeling that I would like -to run away from her--a feeling that I have had many a time since with -nearly all of Them. It was because she was behind me. Now if she had -been in front I should have longed to pass her, and then turn round and -jeer at her. But as it was, Run! Run! was my motto, and into a corner -for preference. I chose a corner, and squeezed myself in behind some -old boxes in the bathroom. They must have been very full of dust, for -I sneezed twice and so told Rosamond where I was, and she put a great -hand like a house in and caught hold of me. - -'Naughty little thing!' she said. That was the first hint I had that -They expect us to stay beside them and not run away. I took the hint; -at least, I was good enough to stop running away sometimes, when she -said my name very decidedly. You never know what They may have in -their hands to make it worth your while to stop; as often as not it is -something to eat. Rosamond put me back in the box, and mother cleaned -me for half-an-hour quite unnecessarily, saying, 'My children shall be -kept unspotted from the world as far as I can manage it, for the world -is very dirty.' - -She is indeed most particular. She washed off the marks of people's -hands carefully wherever they had touched us. It looks rude, I think, -to see a cat, the moment it has been kindly stroked, turn round and -begin to lick the stain away. Rosamond said it is just as if she took -out her pocket-handkerchief after grandpapa had kissed her, and wiped -her cheek with it. - -We could all get out of our bed now. In fact, we would not stay in, -except for sleeping and eating (mother still fed us a little, so as -to let us down easy). We were all over the place, and the door of the -study had to be always kept shut. Rosamond said that being cat-maid -was much harder than lessons at home, for she could keep Fraülein in -order, but she could not keep us. - -'I _can't_ keep them in,' she complained to her grandpapa. 'I collect -them all in my pinafore and drop them all into bed, and out they ooze -in a moment like so many india-rubber balls! Fred especially is a -_fiend_. He is in to everything. He is outside everything. He touches -everything--licks it mostly. I am glad to say that he burnt his nose -badly the other day on the electric radiator. He won't touch that again -in a hurry!' - -No, that he won't! He singed off a bit of his whiskers, and we all -laughed at him awfully. He was a queer little cat, not a bit like -Zobeide or Togo. _We_ never wanted to fight, but he lay down in a -corner of the bed and said, 'Come on, you!' Then Zobeide or I took a -hand, and he knocked us down and drove the straws into our eyes. Mother -punished him by taking him in her arms and kicking him with her hind -legs, but he bit her face and she had to leave off. When we packed -ourselves to go to sleep, mother happening to be away, we always made a -sort of cross, lying over each other for warmth, and Freddy always took -the top, out of his turn, and having so much the biggest head, always -managed to get his own way. We three others hoped that the first one -of us Auntie May sold or gave away would be Fred, but nothing was said -about that. Auntie May bought a ball with a jingle in it for us all, -she distinctly said so, but Fred always assumed that it was his ball, -and he went so far as to claw the jingle out of it, saying that it -amused him quite as much without. We never got a chance of playing with -that ball unless Auntie May happened to leave her house shoes in the -room, and then Fred said we might take the ball, for he didn't get a -chance of real leather to gnaw every day. - -Altogether he was a terror, and Mary used to say she would like to -wring his neck. That didn't frighten Fred; he knew she wouldn't do -anything of the kind, and he went on jumping on to the back of her -neck, and getting among the ashes when she was lighting the fire and -being swept up by mistake, and plopping on to paper parcels, and eating -coals, and needles, and buttons, and corks, and working off a hundred -wicked tricks he had invented. - -You see, Fred never would attend to mother's lectures when we were left -quite alone in the room, and she told us all the little catly rules -that we should have to guide our conduct by when we left her. Some of -them, she said, were traditional, going back to the days beyond the -dawn of history, when cats were worshipped. She said we must never -forget that great fact, never allow ourselves to lose sight of it, but -let it regulate all our conduct and our relations towards Them. They -no longer worship us, though they are kind to us. They have perhaps -forgotten, but we need not. Therefore we must be gentle, obedient, -subservient to Them, but with a reservation. We should, if we thought -proper, come to their call, but never with vulgar alacrity. She thought -it the highest possible praise of a cat to have said of him, as Auntie -May had once said of a friend's cat, 'The more he is called, the more -he doesn't come.' We should find time to sit down on the way and make -pretence to attend to our personal appearance, or what not. We might -suffer Them to hold us in their arms, but not in inconvenient or -indecorous positions, such as upside down, or round their necks like a -boa, or pretending we are wheelbarrows, and so on. She said They--the -more punctilious of Them--have a way of holding a cat up by the loose -skin of its neck, that being considered the least uncomfortable one to -us personally. Quite a mistake, she said; they only think so because -we do not usually protest--how can we, when the skin is strained so -tightly over our throats as to preclude all attempt at conversation? -The only proper way to hold a cat is to take both hands to it and -support the lower limbs, instead of letting the whole weight of the -body depend from the shoulders or the paws. She told us how to open a -door, if it was left ever so little ajar. That is to walk up it--about -two good steps will do. If it is shut, the handle should be turned; -but that needs special aptitudes. Then if we mew passionately before -a closed door and it is opened for us, we should not go in, as would -naturally occur to an undisciplined cat to do, but sit down at a -distance and lick our face, so as to show we do not really care about -it. - -She told us the proper way to lie down--never at once, but after having -described two or three circles. The right thing to do is to turn round -and round, brushing our fur the right way till we are more or less in -the form of a ball. Then, and not till then, we may definitely lie down -with an expression of contentment if we feel like it. We are to imagine -ourselves making a nest in some very high grass, beating it down all -round us to form a bed before we can settle in for the night. Then we -must tuck our heads in symmetrically, and safely too, taking care to -keep one eye free, ready to open and see what is going on, and an ear -cocked to hear strange or unusual sounds. That kind of high long grass -was, she said, called jungle grass, and our ancestors long ago, in the -time before they were worshipped, lived in the jungle and ran wild -there. The worshipping came afterwards. - -She taught us humility, too. When we heard the strays howling outside -in the square garden, too weak to catch birds for their food perhaps, -and begging a morsel or a cup of milk from door to door, we were to -pause in our own feeding and think, 'This cat's ancestors were probably -kings, like mine. I must not be stuck-up.' - -Sometimes even Fred would leave off roaming and sitting away by -himself, thinking over and planning some new bit of mischief to do, and -come back to bed and take the warm place that Zobeide had made, and beg -mother to tell us about 'Dirty Whitey' of the underground. We had all -heard it many a time, but it was a nice story. - -Mother had seen her once the time she was in the underground at Notting -Hill Gate with Auntie May, and Auntie May had said: - -'Oh, bother, there's that wretched cat again! It makes me quite sick to -see it playing about between the rails.' - -She was waiting for her train, and a nice porter was standing near her, -and he said: - -'Bless you, Miss, she knows her way better nor any of us. She takes a -little walk to High Street, Kensington, now and again, and comes back -quite safe and sound. She bringed up a family of kittens there in the -tunnel and never a one was hurt. But I don't doubt myself she'll get -copped some day!' - -Auntie May said she thought so too, and she walked along to the other -end of the platform to avoid seeing the white cat crossing the line -just out of bravado as the train was coming in. When her own train -came along, she said she felt as if that cat would be under it and be -cut in bits. But it wasn't, for she saw it again a week later, and -told mother. Then quite a month later she came in and told mother that -'Dirty Whitey' had been 'copped' at last. - -'Whitey' had been chasing a rat across the metals when a train was -just coming in, and professional pride had forbidden her to let go. -So the train had cut off her head with the tail of that rat in her -mouth--at least, so the porter had told Auntie May. We loved that -story, and, as I have said, even Freddy used to come and listen when -mother began to tell it to us. - -Zobeide liked the story of the cat that walked all the way to London -after its master, who was very meanly moving house and had intended not -to take the family cat. Instinct, mother said. It seemed to work both -ways, for another cat was brought in a covered basket away from the -house it had been born in to one a hundred miles away in quite another -part of the country. It never saw anything, for it had been packed up -in the room in the first house, and the basket was not undone till they -had got into a room in the other and shut the door. No matter, for that -cat was not to be beaten. It just went straight up the chimney and home -again. It evidently loved places better than people, Zobeide remarked. - -'It is generally the way,' mother would answer, 'but _I_ happen to love -Auntie May, and where _she_ is, is home to me. I'm not sure I even -believe those stories. I know that I should be puzzled to find my -way back to Egerton Gardens, even if I wanted to! Probably if I once -started, the gods of my ancestors would endow me with a sixth sense and -show me the way.' - -Admiral Togo always asked for the Whittington story and got it, but I -didn't care for it. I liked the story of the cat that told the people -of the house that the basement was on fire, by running into their -bedroom with her coat all smouldering where a hot splinter had fallen -on it, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin. That was all about rats, as it -happened, but no matter, it made my mouth water. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - ONE LESS THAN FOUR - - -We all had a most terrible shock. Waking up from our afternoon sleep, -we found that instead of being four, we were only three. Admiral Togo -had gone. Mother had been asleep too, but she missed Togo first, and -went routing about among us to make quite sure. - -'I can't surely have mislaid him,' we heard her muttering. 'Or is it -what I fear?' - -'Perhaps he has got over the edge of the bed into the great world,' -said Zobeide, 'and is hiding somewhere to tease us.' - -'Possibly,' mother said gently. She jumped out of bed, and looked all -over the room and into every corner. She called gently to Togo once or -twice, using a special pet name of her own, and she was still wandering -about when Rosamond came up with mother's dinner. She saw the state of -affairs at once. - -'Aha, old girl, looking for your kitten?' she said. 'Can't find Togo, -eh?' - -It struck me as suspicious that she knew which of us mother was seeking -without looking into the basket. Mother answered quite crossly, 'No, -nothing in particular.' She didn't want Rosamond to know that she -valued Togo, or any kitten that ever was born. - -'Well, then, dear Pet, I must tell you. Togo was getting too old to run -about with women and children, and he has had his curls cut off, and -been packed off to a preparatory school!' - -'Tsha!' mother spat angrily. She didn't choose to be chaffed by a -child. 'School! I am not going to be put off with a cock-and-bull story -like that.' - -But she couldn't keep it up for very long. She did really care what had -become of Admiral Togo, and she hung her head and dropped her tail and -tried to get behind the door. - -'Poor Petronilla! You seem very much distressed!' observed Auntie May, -coming in just then, and kindly lifting mother up, and putting her back -with us. 'But you are a sensible cat--I never knew a sensibler--and -you have been through this kind of thing before. Cheer up! You have -three left.' - -'And I wonder how long I shall have them?' mother muttered. 'You are -making pretty quick work with them. You have killed one, and now you -have sold the other--' - -Her bitterness made her unjust, because Auntie May didn't kill Blanch, -though she certainly had sold Admiral Togo, for what Rosamond said next -showed it. - -'May I go and see Togo?' - -'You may. I am sure Mrs. Dillon will have no objection, but don't -imagine for a moment that Togo will be glad to see _you_. Cats have -hardly any memories, and kittens none at all. And a good thing too, for -treated as chattels as they are they would have wretched lives of it. -_They_ don't listen to the rain upon the roof and think of other days, -or have tears come into their eyes when they look at sunsets because -they feel so ancient--' - -'Why, Auntie May, you are talking like an old cat, while you are only a -young woman. You aren't _very_ old--not _more_ than thirty, are you?' - -'That is just the most miserable age,' said Auntie May; 'when I am -forty I shall be as cheerful as--old boots!' She actually wiped a tear -away as she spoke. 'Good gracious me, Pet is simply murdering Freddy! -Drop it--drop it!' - -'Please don't interfere!' mother said, as well as she could speak with -her mouth full of Freddy. 'If you only knew what he had been up to this -afternoon you would be obliged to me, I can tell you! You will miss It -presently, and wonder where it has got to. But I'll make the boy tell -me where it is, and put it back too, before I have done with him!' - -She gave it to Fred well, but she spared his pride and never told -_us_ where he had put Auntie May's opera-glasses. She hit very hard -herself, but she never allowed us to lay a paw on each other, except -in kindness. She was so afraid of our hurting each other, like Uncle -Tomyris, who pulled out Uncle Ra's left eye once in a cattery brawl. - -'They got Professor Hobday to come and fit him with an artificial one. -They really did, word of an honest cat!' mother said. She told us some -other things that the Professor did, such as bandaging a cat's broken -arm and putting it in splints, also false teeth, but that was a dog, I -think, and it was worth about three hundred pounds. No cat that ever -was born was worth that, mother says, but it is They who settle what we -are all to cost, and They might be mistaken. They have agreed that cats -are inferior to dogs; you may be as silly as you like about a dog, and -even believe he has got a soul if you like, but a cat!--'My dear, it's -too absurd!' - -I hear this kind of thing in the drawing-room on Auntie May's at-home -day, when we are often carried downstairs in a basket and allowed to -play about and amuse the people. One hears a good deal. People who -don't like cats think that Auntie May makes a perfect fool of herself -about us. Once when Auntie May was persuaded to bring us down, to -please a Mrs. Wheeler, I heard, with my own big ears, Mrs. Wheeler -begin her sentence one way and finish it another. - -'Lovely creatures, so beautiful in the firelight, when the light -catches their outside fur and makes it shine like silver--' (Then -Auntie May moved off and she went on) 'Poor, dear May! She is a bit -of a bore with her cats, don't you think so? Do you notice how she -always brings the conversation round to them in the end? It is a great -mistake. She will be an old maid, it's a sure sign! Look at her now -with a saucer on the floor and those three cats making a Manx penny -all round it, and a nice man wanting to talk to her, and can't get a -word from her! He looks disgusted, and no wonder!' - -Auntie May didn't really keep us downstairs very long, and the nice -man, as it happened, carried us up for her to her study, and put us all -back in our basket, and stayed up talking with her quite a long time, -and talking about Mrs. Wheeler, the very woman who had been abusing -Auntie May for loving us so. - -'She's a cat, that's what she is!' the nice man said, and Auntie May -agreed, which was rather insulting to us. I am, however, not quite sure -whether he didn't say a _d_ instead of a _t_, which with them makes -quite a different word. - -Presently they said it was June, and the weather got beautiful. Auntie -May thought we ought to take the air in the garden, and be allowed to -run about on the grass. Rosamond was overjoyed, and so were we, at -first. Then we began to get frightened. There was absolutely nothing on -the top of us except the sky and the sun. I missed the nice sheltering -bed and the cosy walls of the room we had lived in always. I felt as -if the top of my skull had been taken off. I saw nothing to hide -under either, except black poles that simply ran up straight into the -blue. The sun was very hot, too, and I suppose I looked wretched, for -suddenly Rosamond said: - -'I do believe Loki has got a sunstroke, like Kitty had last year. His -poor little head is so hot--feel!' - -Auntie May was in such a fright that she bundled us all into the house. - -Next day, when the sun was not quite so hot, she took us out again and -we soon got used to it. Sometimes she chose me alone and took me on -a lead and held the loop of it while she worked. She wrote on great -white sheets of paper that the wind got under and tried to blow away. -She told me to make myself useful and be a paperweight, but then when -I sat on the freshly-written sheets it spread the ink all about and -she did not seem to like that. At last the wind went down and she got -interested and forgot me entirely. Rosamond sneaked the end of the lead -out of her hand when she was not looking and held it; it seemed to give -her the greatest pleasure to hold me in. It is odd how that child likes -managing people, and positively begs for responsibility. Well, she took -it this time, and a nice mess she made of it! - -She opened her hand as she got interested in her book, and I simply -walked away with the lead bobbling after me. I liked responsibility too. - -Suddenly I saw a dog coming towards me--I knew it was a dog from the -one that was embroidered on the child's crawler we had to lie on at -home. He was black, coarse-furred, with small mean eyes, and a fringe -that kept tumbling into them. He approached me. I did not like to turn, -or cringe, or look afraid, but I felt my tail stiffening and my claws -sliding out all ready, by no will of my own. There was an odd feeling -in my back too. I knew as well as if you had told me that I should be -rude and spit at him if he came nearer. - -He did. I spat. He barked. Still Auntie May didn't leave off putting -her pencil in her mouth and writing with it. Then my mood changed. I -felt I should like to leave that dog--I wanted not to be where it was. -After all I was only a kitten, and I turned round slowly and walked in -the direction of Auntie May. - -He came prancing after me. I ran. He ran. The lead was most awfully in -my way. I went straight past Auntie May in my nervousness, and up one -of the straight black poles that seemed to lead up to Heaven--out of -that dog's way, at any rate. It was a tree, so I heard after. Perhaps -he could climb too--I didn't know! It was an instinct. The loop of -the lead lay along the ground, and the idiotic puppy, as he must have -been, hadn't the sense to hang on to it and drag me down. I think it -was pretty clever of me to climb my first tree handicapped and shackled -like that. Auntie May heard his short, sharp, cross barks, and came -running and caught hold of the end of the lead to prevent me from going -any higher up. Some people called off the puppy, and then, and not till -then, did I allow myself to come down on to her shoulder, which she -obligingly held under the exact bit of tree I was on. - -[Illustration: OUT OF THAT DOG'S WAY AT ANY RATE.] - -It was much easier to go up than to come down. Perhaps I was excited -then and made light of difficulties, but still mother told me that it -was always the same way with her. Cats should look before they climb. - -I scratched Auntie May's nose terribly for her as I came down, and it -bled and had to be bathed. She was most kind about it. - -'Never mind, darling, it won't matter. I am an ugly thing anyway, and -I have _only_ got to be presented at Court to-morrow! Just a little -unimportant occasion of that kind.' - -'Can't you explain to the Queen,' said Rosamond, 'that your cat -scratched you? I have always heard she is so very kind.' - -'No, I shan't worry her with explanations,' said Auntie May; 'only -soldiers' scratches are worth talking about. Let us go in.' - -Mother lectured me when she heard of my adventure. 'You should not have -run,' she said, 'with that great heavy lead and all. If he had had the -spirit of a flea he would have broken your back for you. You should not -have shown it him; you should have stopped still and gone for his nose. -That hurts, and he knows it. He would have run away from you the moment -you raised your paw. Remember!' - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE FIRST JOURNEY - - -At the end of July Rosamond was taken home by somebody who was -travelling up to Yorkshire. Her mother was not very well and wanted -her. In fact, for the whole of August Auntie May was always worrying -about Beatrice, Rosamond's mother, who was her twin-sister. She said -she couldn't quite make out from Beatrice's letters what was the matter -with her, or if it was serious or no, and though she paid several -visits to big country houses in August she did not enjoy them. We were -left to the care of Mary, who was becoming a very excellent cat's-maid, -and so mother told Auntie May whenever she came home, and that, -although she never could love Mary as much as she loved Auntie May, she -had not wanted for anything during her absence. - -At last Beatrice's letters got so scanty and muddly that Auntie -May said she must go and see her and find out for herself. So she -telegraphed to Tom, her brother-in-law, that she was going down to -Crook Hall on Thursday, whether they wanted her or not. - -The answer came back, and puzzled Auntie May very much: - -'_Do--want--you--bring--kitten._' - -'_Bring kitten?_ Why should I? Beatrice doesn't want to keep kittens -because she has so many dogs. What can it mean? This is some game of -Rosamond's, I'll be bound. I'll _not_ take a kitten.' - -But the more she thought over it, the more she felt that Tom wouldn't -have put _Bring Kitten_ unless he wanted one. He is a man who doesn't -talk any more than he need, and it was he who had sent the telegram off -himself. Beatrice wanted the kitten for some reason or other, there was -not a doubt of it, or Tom wanted Beatrice to have a kitten. She began -to think she _would_ take a kitten. - -'I will take the strongest,' she said. 'Petronilla, which do you -consider your strongest kitten?' - -Mother answered, 'Frederick B. Nicholson, as you call him,' but of -course Auntie May couldn't understand her. She sat down by the basket, -where we still spent most of our time, and talked to us about ourselves. - -'Freddy's nose is too long--makes him rather snipe-faced--but his paws -are broad and magnificent, and his eyes golden. Zobeide, your tail is -a weeny-weeny bit too thin and drawn out at the tip, and your ears too -pointed and long. You, Loki, have got a tolerably neat little chubby -face of your own, but your ears are not tufted, and your nose, if you -were human, would be an impertinent snub. Still, you are going to be -a fluffy cat, one can see that, and invalids--if poor Beatrice really -is an invalid--prefer fluffiness. I think I'll take you, Loki. No, -Fred, not you, indeed, you pertinacious darling, for you always go for -one's eyes, you are such a dangerous cat, without a single atom of -self-control. So, Loki, you may as well say goodbye to your mother and -make the most of her, for she just won't know you when you come back. -Get him ready for me, Petronilla, by to-morrow morning, will you?' - -'So Beatrice is an invalid!' said mother, after she had gone. 'It is -bad for you, my child. But now listen attentively to your mother, and -perhaps she may tell you how to avoid any bad effects. If they put you -on the patient's bed, keep as near the foot as you can; don't lie near -her or take her breath. I always believe in giving invalids a very wide -berth. I remember once that my old mistress, Miss Jane Beverley, was -very ill, and I had kept away as much as I could. She did not want me -either; she didn't _really_ love cats. One day, however, I was curious -to know how she was going on and I ventured into her sick-room, though -it was a foolish thing to do. From what I observed myself, I concluded -that she was on the high road to recovery. We know better than They do. -It is the air that blows from people that are not going to get better -that tells us about it. No such airs came from her. I leaped on to the -bed and went right up to her face and stroked her chin. You should have -heard her old nurse: - -'"Bless us, ma'am," she almost screamed, "you're going to get well. The -cat's taken to you again!" - -'She was an unusually skilled nurse to know this principle that is so -strong in cats, and let her judgment be swayed by it.' - -'And did Miss Beverley get well?' asked Zobeide. - -'Of course--till next time. They die, you know, like us, in the end.' - -Next morning came, and Auntie May was very sad and serious. I believe -she was quite frightened about her sister. She had a basket lined, with -torn-up bits of paper in it, brought in for me, and at the very last -moment I was put into it by Mary. Mother came and sniffed at me as I -lay inside, and advised me not to go and get all the skin off my face -trying to pick at the walls of the basket to open it, but lie still and -try to sleep, and eat a little grass the first chance I got on arriving -at Crook Hall. - -Then Mary came back into the room hastily. They have got so into the -habit of telling us things that she said to mother as she took me up, -'Cab's at the door!' She carried me down, and I suppose it was Auntie -May who took hold of me, for I heard Mr. Graham kiss her several times, -and I suppose he wouldn't kiss Mary, though he says she is a very good -servant. We went out of the door, for I felt the rush of fresh air -against the sides of the basket, and I sniffed, and then I felt so -terribly strange that I am ashamed to say I did give one long 'Miau!' -as I was carried across the pavement to the cab. I saw nothing, of -course, but mother had explained to me all the probable stages of my -journey. - -There began the strangest, weirdest series of noises I had ever heard -then, though I have, I am sorry to say, heard them many a time since. -Howling, rushing, grating, bumping, rolling, trotting, whistling, -screeching, hitting--and spitting, if I may say so. We seemed to be -always going up and down stairs. I mewed a few small mews, and Auntie -May spoke to me through the walls of the basket and said, 'Hush! hush!' -very gently, and I hushed, and only grunted to inform her how I felt. - -Then at last all was still, except for a curious rushing noise that -never stopped. The rocking motion that went with it was very pleasant -and soothing, and made one feel quite stupid. Suddenly I felt Auntie -May's hand slide into the basket, which I licked and lay down against. -I was quite easy in my mind after that, but getting more and more -stupefied every minute. Presently she opened the lid of the basket and -I sat up and looked about. - -We seemed to be in a small, plain, unfurnished house, with nothing in -it but seats and a hat-rack. A large man, far bigger than Auntie May's -little papa, was sitting opposite her and reading a sheet of enormous -printed paper. In the other corner was a lacy black woman. When the -basket was opened she jumped and frightened me, and Auntie May said, -'Sit still, nervous little cat!' - -'Oh, what a darling!' the woman exclaimed. 'May I just touch it?' She -did touch me, but Auntie May held my hind paws firmly down in the -basket. She needn't have bothered, I don't go to strangers. - -'Mightn't he jump out? Aren't you awfully nervous about him?' cackled -the black woman. 'Isn't he a sweet colour? He is like that new grey -pastel shade they brought out in Paris last year. Teuf-Teuf, they -called it--something to do with the automobiles? Why don't you call him -Teuf-Teuf? Such a sweet name for a cat!' - -'Because somehow he happens to have a name already,' Auntie May said, -extra sweetly, because she was so bored by the lady and wanted to read -her novel. - -'Why doesn't he have a yellow ribbon round his dear neck? A yellow -ribbon would look so sweet--so like Velasquez' scheme of colouring!' - -'I never allow my cats to wear horse-collars,' said Auntie May, 'for -fear of spoiling their ruffs. I think I _must_ put you in again, -darling, for I want to read. You won't mind, will you, for I will leave -you my hand to lick!' - -So down went the lid on me, and the lady in the corner calmed down, -though she still chirped occasionally like the birds in the square -garden in the mornings. - -The rushing and the rocking stopped suddenly, and I heard a voice call -out 'Darlington!' - -'Oh, how sweet!' said the lady in the corner. 'And what are you going -to do with your darling cat?' - -'Put him on the rails!' said Auntie May, quite rudely. '_Good_ morning!' - -But we did not catch our train; it had gone. We had missed the -connection. '_Tant pis!_' Auntie May said (which means 'All the -worse!'). 'We will go and put an ornamental frill round something.' - -That meant _eat_, as I found soon enough. She opened the basket and -turned me out on to a marble tablecloth, very cold to the feet, and -gave me a saucer full of milk. I don't like eating off anything white, -for that always means getting banged. Auntie May's way of preventing -kittens from stealing off tables is to associate eating off anything -white in their minds with a whipping. However, in this case it was -she herself who put me up to it. When we had done (Auntie May ate -a couple of sponge-cakes) we went to another room where a woman in -grey was sitting over the fire knitting, and Auntie May talked to an -old gentleman with black silk gaiters and a black silk pinafore like -Rosamond's, who turned out to be the bishop of the town near where -Beatrice lived. It was all delightful, except that people kept opening -the door of the room and looking in and going away again, making me -jump every time, and the bishop too. I _am_ a nervous little cat, as -Auntie May told the black lady, and I am to Fred as a carthorse is to a -racehorse. After we had sat there for what seemed a long time, a guard -put his head in at the door and said, as if it didn't particularly -matter, 'Anybody here for the four-fifteen?' - -It did matter, and everybody jumped up except the grey-haired woman, -who went on knitting. Auntie May popped me into the basket, and -fastened the lid safely; the bishop offered to carry me, but she would -not let him. I was relieved, and I think by the sound of his voice he -was relieved too. I did not mew, for it would only distress her and -disgrace her before her new friend. Besides, I was full, and you have -no idea what a difference it makes. I curled round and determined to -take no notice of any sort of noise. Even when Auntie May prodded me -with her finger kindly, I wished she would not, for I felt too stupid -to mew, and just wanted to be let alone for the rest of the journey. -Besides, I felt rather sick. They should not fill one up with milk like -a bottle and then shake one about. I wished I had refused it at the -time. - -The train slowed down, and the bishop said, 'Can I be of assistance to -you in any way?' - -'Thank you very much,' Auntie May said, 'but Tom, my brother-in-law, -will meet us. There he is!' - -Then, I think, she forgot all about the bishop, for she said to some -one at the carriage window, in a fearfully excited voice, 'Oh, Tom, how -is she? I _have_ brought a kitten--' - -Tom did not answer, but I fancy he shook his head, or something that -didn't seem hopeful, for Auntie May squeaked, 'Oh dear!' in not at all -her usual voice. - -Tom seemed only business-like. 'Where's your ticket? Hand it over. Had -you to take a dog ticket for this little brute?' - -'_Tom!_' - -'All right. Come on!' - -They did not say a word to each other till we had walked a little way -and stood about a little, and Auntie May had taken a step up with me -and sat down. And then the rolling and rocking began again. I was -nearly dead with fuss and different ways of travelling. But I listened -to what was said. - -'She hardly knew us yesterday,' he was saying. He had a deep big voice, -much louder than May's father's voice, but then Mr. Graham is an artist -and Tom Gilmour is a sportsman, and is always calling to things across -bogs and moors to follow him or come to heel, so mother told me. He -went on, choking rather: - -'It was a sort of faint. She got quite cold, and the nurse said, -"_Anything_ to rouse her, sir! I wish she had a pet, sir!" And I was -sending for you anyhow, and so I said, "Would a kitten do?" and the -woman said, "Might try it, sir." So I sent that message to you, "_Bring -a cat!_" Pretty comic, wasn't it? Ho, ho!' - -It was a melancholy sort of cackle, but Auntie May cried out: - -'Oh, Tom, how can you laugh with Beatrice in such a state?' She began -to cry herself and rock about in the carriage. - -'Better to laugh than cry with an invalid any day,' said Tom. 'And I -tell you what, May, my dear, if you are going to be a hysterical muff, -you had much better not have come down at all. You will do Beatrice -more harm than good. Stow it, can't you? Good Lord, now there's the -wretched brute in the basket beginning to caterwaul!' - -I was _not_ caterwauling, only trying to tell Auntie May to be quiet -and that Tom was quite right. But one is so easily misunderstood. -However, Auntie May got sensible all at once, and thanked Tom for -speaking sharply to her, and said she meant to do Beatrice good, not -harm, and would he like to see the little kitten, and she had chosen -the prettiest, and so on. - -'If you like you can let the beast out,' he said roughly. 'I look upon -all cats as vermin myself. I know I shoot 'em pretty quick when they -come into the garden. They are so beastly destructive, you know, worse -than rabbits even. Here, yank him out and let's see the little beggar.' - -So out I came, and I at once crawled all over his nice great knees, -covered with thick lovely wool that I could pick up with my claws in -handfuls and not be missed. My claws were little and the stuff was -thick, not like the clothes of Auntie May's friends, male and female. -The men squirm when I get on their knees and try to bear it, but the -women jump up and squeak the moment you touch them. They have only got -one coating probably under their thin muslin gowns, being ridiculously -under-furred. But Tom only grinned and said: - -'Go it, little un! You can't hurt _me_. Beatrice's knitted stockings -will stand a good deal. Poor darling! I only wish I knew whether she -would ever knit me any more of them!' - -'Now _you_ mustn't be depressed!' said Auntie May, patting his knees. -She was awfully fond of Tom I could see, and he of her, though he -abused her all the time, and laughed at her novels and her editors and -publishers, and her life in London generally, so different from his and -Beatrice's. I was very eager to see Beatrice, because she was Auntie -May's sister and Rosamond's mother, but I was not allowed to until -after supper, mine and Auntie May's. We had it with Tom alone, and he -hardly said a word all dinner, though the nurse came down and told us -that Beatrice was much better and hadn't fainted at all that day, and -had eaten quite a fair meal at seven. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - AN INVALID - - -After supper, about half-past eight, Auntie May took me in her arms and -carried me into a bedroom. A stiff woman was there with a white cap and -apron on. On the bed, that was very prettily trimmed and arranged with -painted flowers and real flowers all about it, was Beatrice. She had -yellow hair trained all over the pillow, tied up with blue bows, and -a great many of them. Her eyes were very wide open and sad. She was a -very tall woman, for she stretched a good way under the bedclothes. She -put out a wretchedly thin sort of claw to take hold of me--she had seen -Auntie May before, just for a minute. - -'Oh, you sweet, right, absolutely perfect thing,' she said to me. 'May, -how did you know that it was exactly what I wanted?' - -All this was so fearfully and wonderfully polite that I made a great -effort and conquered my own repugnance to an ill person, and flinging -mother's mean counsels to the winds, I let her take me in her arms and -fold me up quite close to her, almost inside the sheets, and squeeze me -till I thought she would drive all the breath out of my body. At any -rate, the poor sick thing was happy, and it is a delightful feeling to -be giving any one pleasure like that. I didn't even squeal. She was far -too weak to do it again, luckily, but lay quite still with her arms -slack, letting me lie on her chest, curled up so that it would take me -some time to go away. I think They ought to know that if once you get a -cat to curl wherever it is you want him to settle, he has accepted the -situation, and there is no fear of his running away for the present. - -'Will you leave it with me, May, dear? Will it stop alone with me -without you, do you think?' - -'Oh, it is very young, it hasn't learnt to love _me_ yet!' Auntie May -said hastily. 'It will stay with you all right--that is, if nurse -permits it.' - -She raised her eyebrows at the nurse and the nurse nodded. - -'I can't say I approve of cats in the sick-room, Miss,' she said in a -low voice while Beatrice was fondling me, 'but for this once--and it -seems to have done her so much good, too!' - -Auntie May said, 'You see, we are all like that in our -family--perfectly mad on cats. It is only because my sister lives in -the country, where cats are so apt to go a-hunting and get killed, that -she doesn't have the house full of them. You see, I know how she feels, -as I am her twin-sister. Now I will go and tell my brother-in-law of -the success of his prescription.' - -Before she left the room she bent down and whispered to me: - -'Be a good boy, and stay behind willingly, and don't come squealing -after me the moment the door shuts behind me, or I'll never forgive -you, Loki, so just you mind!' - -'What are you two mumbling together?' asked Beatrice pleasantly. 'I -won't have any secrets. I want Loki's undivided allegiance, please.' - -So I stayed with Beatrice all night, and the nurse most officiously -stayed too. There was a sweet little dancing light on the mantelpiece -that I could not take my eyes off, as it flickered over the edge -of its silver dish. Beatrice never seemed to sleep. The nurse fed -her twice--once it was cornflour, for they gave me the remainder of -it. The nurse was kind on the whole, but rather contemptuous. I -told mother about her afterwards, and mother said nurses always were -contemptuous--that is, if they were any good. The coaxing, sweet-spoken -ones never got any authority, and usually were changed in a month. - -This one didn't mind showing that she thought Beatrice an utter fool -to want to keep a grey kitten with her day and night, but she had seen -so many invalids she was never surprised at anything. When she was not -nursing Beatrice, she sat and made herself stiff white calico aprons, -and broke a needle over every seam. She took me down to Auntie May for -my meals, lifting me very gently, as if I had been a 'case'; but she -hadn't the slightest idea where my bones came, as Auntie May did--I -could tell that from the way she carried me. - -I saw _her_ having her meals once. She crooked her little finger -over the handle of the teacup as she drank and stopped between each -mouthful, and when the parlour-maid, who waited on her very crossly, -asked her if she would have another helping of mutton, she answered, -'Thank you, I have sufficient,' and to the same question about her -beer, she replied, 'Not any more, thank you!' - -It was while I was in Beatrice's bedroom that I first saw myself in -the glass. I thought it was another cat at first. I kissed it, and its -mouth was very cold. Then I lifted my paw to shake paws with it, as it -seemed so anxious to be friends. It did exactly what I did. This was -unsatisfactory somehow. I got cross, and dabbed at its paw with mine; -and then I got crosser still and dabbed just anywhere all over the -place, and it seemed quite as furious as I was and dabbed too. I should -have gone on for ever if Beatrice hadn't asked what that scratching, -pattering noise was? The nurse answered, 'The cat sees himself in the -glass, Madam,' in the little stiff voice she had. - -So that was all, and I was very much hurt at having been made such a -fool of, and what is more, I did not believe it. It _was_ a ghost. - -Some cats believe in ghosts, some don't, mother told me. She herself -sees them. I longed to get home again and compare notes with mother. -What I saw may have been the ghost of Great-Uncle Tomyris, whom I am -supposed to resemble. I sometimes went and exposed myself to him again, -but not too often; I had a shy feeling about him. I simply detested -being held up to a glass to see him, as Auntie May sometimes chose to -do, with great want of tact. I would not fight him, or even touch him; -why should I? His nose was awfully cold, and sent a thrill through me, -as of one who comes from another world. - -Beatrice got slowly better, and I got ill. They did not feed me right, -but brought me remains of sticky, greasy made dishes with queer -flavours that would disagree with any cat. We like to live very simply, -and I was little more than a kitten. But I _had_ to eat something to -keep body and fur together, and yet what I did eat did not nourish me, -and only did me harm. - -'His little stomach is like a drum,' Beatrice said sadly. 'He has got -indigestion. What could you fancy, my pet, my sweet? I wish I could -guess and I would give it you.' - -I wanted a piece of plain lean beef, minced for preference, or -shredded, but I knew cooks didn't like setting the mincing-machine in -motion '_for a cat!_' so I supposed I should not get it, though I knew -Auntie May had ordered it for me. It is funny how people, inferior -people, think a cat can eat anything. Auntie May always takes in the -butcher by not allowing the cook at home to send for 'pieces for -cats.' If you mention that it's for a cat, she says, the butcher or -the fishmonger always wraps up the meat or fish in newspaper, she has -noticed that particularly. - -I wished she would go into the kitchen and blow up that cook. She was -so bothered about Beatrice that she was not herself, and seemed to have -forgotten me, in spite of her loving words when she came across me on -the stairs or anywhere. - -Beatrice had massage, and she knew how it was done and she gave me -some, which relieved the pain a little. She used to rub my stomach -gently for half-an-hour together, and when I at last got well she was -firmly persuaded that she had cured me. I knew better. It was Tom. - -Tom never took much notice of me, but once when he was leaning over -Beatrice's bed she told him that I was not well. - -'Poor brute,' said he, 'I should like to know how it could be well! Fed -on messes and deprived of exercise! No dog could thrive on a regimen -like that, and I suppose a cat is put together something after the same -fashion.' - -'But,' said Beatrice, 'how can he have exercise, Tom? They tell me that -there were two degrees of frost the night before last, and the garden -is a mush, and the grass all white with rime!' - -'No matter, that's what he wants. Look at him!' - -I had risen and gone across to the window to try to signify to Them -that I agreed with Tom, who added, 'The poor little beggar knows what -is good for him.' - -'It isn't good for him to wet his little silver feet,' said Beatrice. - -'I bet you it wouldn't hurt him. Be as good as a Beecham's pill to the -little fellow,' said Tom, who was getting quite excited over his idea. -I was leaping about, alternately rubbing myself against the window and -then against his knee. 'Look here, Beatrice, I'll take him out. I'll -take the responsibility.' - -'Do what you like, Tom, but whatever you do don't let May catch you.' - -'May is in the dark room, developing some photos. Come on, you kid!' He -lifted me as nicely as Auntie May could; his hands were enormous, and -one of them seemed to swallow me all up, and hiding me under the lapel -of his coat, he slunk downstairs with me, chuckling all the time. He -opened the hall door, carried me across the gravel, which was soaking, -and dropped me on to the lawn. - -Wow! but it was wet! I stood a moment undecided, but then I saw that -good Tom on the other side of the patch of grass dangling something in -his hand. My courage came to me and I darted across, squelching out wet -at every step I took. Tom, of course, wasn't at the other end when I -got there, but at the place I had just left, still waving the enticing -thing, whatever it was. I scuttled after him, and we played that game -three times, and I felt like a new cat. The fourth time he stayed, -and let me get hold of the object, which was nothing more than an old -leather bit of strap that he punished the dogs with, and when I had got -my teeth well into it, he caught me up by it and carried me back to -Beatrice. - -'Here's your precious cat! Now dry his feet and polish them up for -all you're worth; put a shine on them, if you can'--he handed her a -towel--'and don't leave a wet hair on him.' - -I was all right after that. Also the rime went off the grass, and it -was rather fine for October, and they got into the way of letting me -go out a little regularly. Auntie May protested, and said it had never -been done in our family, but Tom assured her it could do me no harm if -I was brought in and not allowed to sit about with damp feet. I simply -loved Tom, for it was he who cured me far more than the massage, and -got me leave to run about in the garden and try to catch things. - -I never caught anything, but all sorts of things tried to catch me. -Once it was three thrushes that hunted me across the lawn in front of -the drawing-room windows, and a strange dog once strayed in, attracted -by the sight of me, and I should have had a bad time, only that -Beatrice always took care to have a window left open somewhere on all -the sides of the house for me to fly in to in case of need. - -The _house_ dogs had all been introduced to me and told to leave me -alone, and they jolly well obeyed. Beatrice said she never could have -believed that they would have tolerated me as they did. They not only -tolerated me--I saw to that myself, for I very soon began to lord it -over them and take any seat I fancied, even though it had been Peg's or -Meg's before--they got to treat me as gentlemen treat ladies, moving -out of any nice place when I approached, and never thinking of going -out of a room before me. We could not understand each other in the -least, and I have often wondered why, since I can understand Beatrice -and Auntie May, and all the big ones so well. The dogs make absurd -noises and bark, but perhaps it means nothing, and they only _think_ -they are talking! Anyway they are not nearly such conversational -creatures as cats; they often get through a whole day without uttering -a sound. Now I can't even enter a room without making a remark, and -when anything has happened to me I come in and tell Them, forgetting -They can't understand me. Auntie May always listens politely. - -'What is all this you are trying to tell me?' she said, when I came in -one day full of the adventure of the tame rabbit which had insulted -me. Kitty had brought it out on the lawn to be introduced to me and we -had just rubbed noses, when it suddenly turned round and tossed up its -heels, all over mould, in my face and scuttled off. Ill-bred thing! I -tried to tell Them, but it was no use. Rosamond said, 'What is it all -about, little talking cat? Auntie May, just listen, he is bubbling away -with conversation, and most awfully interested in himself and what has -happened to him. I _wish_ I could understand.' - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - A MAN WHO HATED ME - - -Up to now I had been kept as much as possible with Beatrice; but when -she was better and able to come down, I realised that there were three -children in the house--my old friend Rosamond, of course, and two -others, Amerye and Kitty, whom I had hardly seen at all. - -Heaps of people kept cropping up. There was Miss Grueber, their -governess, and Annie, their schoolroom-maid. After Beatrice had been -downstairs and 'on the sofa' a week, her mother-in-law, Tom's mother, a -Mrs. Gilmour, came, and I scratched her. - -She made the most fearful fuss, and I am ready to declare that my claw -was not shot out with any degree of violence, nor did it penetrate more -than the eighth of an inch into her hand. But she said her arm would -mortify. She complained of a twisting sort of pain reaching up as far -as her elbow, and wore her arm in a sling to keep the blood out of it. -She said there was poison in cat's nails as well as in that of human -beings, only their nails don't affect you unless that human being is -in a rage. She went about with a 'poor-poor' face, and requested that -I might be removed if I happened to be in the room when she came into -it. I often hid when she was there, for though I disliked her and would -not ever go near her again, or play with her bobbly fringe or the ends -of her fur stole, I found her amusing and liked to listen to the absurd -things she said and the stories she told, although I hardly believed -them. She said she herself was indifferent to cats if they didn't come -near her, but there were people who fainted away if a cat came into the -room where they were. That I afterwards had reason to know was true, -for it coloured my whole life. - -One day Beatrice was downstairs lying on the sofa in a sweet lace thing -with lots of fascinating frills to play with. I refrained because she -had been ill. She told us she had put on this lovely _négligée_ because -Mr. Fox was coming to tea. - -'Who is Mr. Fox?' asked Auntie May. - -'Oh, a very nice man who has taken Shortleas this year. I don't know -where he comes from--London, I suppose--but I met him somewhere before -I was ill and found we were neighbours--if you call five miles apart -neighbours--and thought we might as well be civil to him. I asked him -to tea while you were here--I thought perhaps he might like to meet a -London authoress.' - -Auntie May looked cross, as she always does when they talk of her -books, which she doesn't think much of, only they bring her pocket -money, and as Mr. Graham is always spending his on old silver and -enamel, it is important to her. Then as it was still quite early, and -Mr. Fox wasn't likely to come till tea-time, Beatrice civilly asked -Mrs. Gilmour to play something to us. - -Mrs. Gilmour said she wouldn't, at first, but Beatrice worried her to -do it, knowing that she meant to in the end, and at last the old lady -opened the instrument, as she called it, and began. - -In all my life I never heard anything like it! The old thing's -gnarled fingers hopped and skipped and jumped and rattled about like -hailstones, and the notes bobbed up under them as if they were alive. -I longed to catch them, but I dared not go any nearer to the terrible -noise. - -'Lovely!' murmured Beatrice, closing her eyes. - -'Sweet!' said Auntie May, pegging away at her fancy work that she wants -to get done. - -I felt perfectly sick, and as if my inside was being pulled right out -of me. I should have died if I couldn't have run away and hidden myself -somewhere. Down, down went my tail, as we cats always put it when in -trouble, and I crept under the Chesterfield sofa, wishing only that my -ears had been smaller and did not let the sound in so much. - -'I love the minor key,' said Auntie May, and then I knew what it was -_I_ disliked so much. - -Presently there was a scrunch on the gravel outside; not a cart or trap -scrunch, but a motor scrunch, which is quite different. Auntie May gave -a pat to her hair, and Beatrice a tug to her skirt, and whispered to -Auntie May in fun: - -'Now mind you don't shock him, you wild London girl!' - -Mrs. Gilmour must have heard the scrunch too, but she went on playing -louder than ever, only jumping up with a little mew of surprise as the -door opened and Barton announced: 'Mr. Fox.' - -I could see Mr. Fox by lifting up the edge of the valance of the sofa -with my nose, and I took a good look at him. He was very tall, and -very dark-haired, and stooped a little. I dropped the edge of the -valance again, for it was tiring, and I could tell things about him by -using my ears--for instance, that he was a very shy man. - -He was, of course, introduced to Auntie May, and for the rest of his -visit he sat staring at her. I guessed this from the direction of his -voice when he spoke. Mrs. Gilmour talked to him most, and all about the -poor, and why they want a three-roomed cottage instead of a two-roomed -one. - -'I should think every family wanted a spare room,' said Auntie May, 'to -stow their mother-in-law--or the cat.' - -'Don't be flippant, May,' said Beatrice, and Mr. Fox seemed to be -wriggling on his chair, for it creaked. I suppose he didn't like her to -make fun of mothers-in-law; but if his was like Mrs. Gilmour, it would -be difficult to help it. - -Presently I looked out and saw that he had pulled his handkerchief out -and then didn't seem to know what to do with it. Very soon, however, he -began to put it to his mouth and I could hear him gasp. - -'Do ring, May,' said Beatrice. 'I can see that Mr. Fox is dying for tea -after his long drive.' - -'Not at all,' Mr. Fox blurted out. 'Not at all. I never take tea, I--' - -'Have a brandy and soda, then. Tom always does.' - -'Mr. Fox looks quite pale,' said Mrs. Gilmour. - -'The fact is,' said Mr. Fox, and his voice trembled, 'I am not very--I -am afraid I cannot stop for tea to-day.' - -'I am afraid you are not well, Mr. Fox. Last time you came I had the -pleasure of pouring you out a very strong cup.' - -'I know,' mumbled poor Mr. Fox. 'The heat'--it was drizzling snow and -sleet at that very moment--'I want air. I feel I must leave you; the -truth is, I am so unfortunately constituted'--here he simply gasped. 'I -am convinced that there is a cat in the room.' - -'There isn't, that I know of. But if there was--' - -'I am sorry to say I am sure of it, from my ridiculous weakness. I have -been subject to it from childhood. I cannot breathe--I feel positively -faint if one of those animals is anywhere in my neighbourhood.' - -'May, if your wretched cat is hidden under the sofa--hunt it out quick, -or poor Mr. Fox will faint!' - -'Please don't disturb your pet for me,' said poor Mr. Fox, politely. 'I -had much better go. I am quite ashamed of myself.' - -But meantime Auntie May had lifted up the valance of the sofa, and -I had walked out, given Mr. Fox one look, and sought the door which -Auntie May opened for me respectfully. No vulgar shooing for me! She -followed me out and took me in her arms. - -'Never mind, you sweet little innocent lamb that never did harm -to any one. Never mind what the silly man says. Go and have tea -in the schoolroom, and behave, and don't get schoolroom manners, -please--remember you are a drawing-room cat, and behave as such.' - -She opened the schoolroom door and shoved me in; she seemed in a great -hurry to get back to the silly weak sort of man. - -I knew what she meant by schoolroom manners. Nobody could behave better -than Rosamond, Amerye, or Kitty sometimes. When they were allowed to -have tea in the drawing-room they made it a point of honour to be -quite different, but in the schoolroom they had an idea that it didn't -matter. They clawed large chunky slices of bread off the plate and -buttered them with the butter-knife up in the air, as they weren't -allowed to do when Beatrice was there, and drank 'giant drinks' till -their cups were empty, looking at each other over the rim all the while -and trying not to end with a sputter, as a syphon does. - -Kitty, the youngest child, was still shy about speaking when she was -told to, though she could rattle away twenty to the dozen when not -invited to give her opinion, or even when told to shut up. - -This very day she gave us an example of her particular kind of -obstinacy. She badly wanted some more cake and didn't want to ask -politely for it, because that would be letting Fraülein know that she -_did_ want it. - -Fraülein knew that. She said: - -'Now, Kiddy'--that was the way she pronounced Kitty--'you can have that -piece of cake as soon as you say, "Yes, please." Kiddy, do you want it?' - -Kitty nodded. - -'Well, you can have it if you will only say, "Yes, please," and if you -won't say, "Yes, please," Kiddy--well, then, you can go wizout.' - -Kitty began to cry gently. - -'You little silly,' said Rosamond, 'if you really do want the bun, why -can't you say what you are wanted to say? What is there in it after -all? Yes please, yes please, yes please--I can go on for ever.' - -'Pray don't,' said Fraülein. 'Now, Kiddy--' - -'I _will_ say it, Fraülein, I _will_ really,' Kitty cried. - -'Well, then, say it.' - -'I can't.' - -'Very well, then, go wizout.' - -Kitty began to turn on the waterworks and Rosamond pinched her severely. - -'I _am_ going to say it; take away your hand,' declared Kitty at last. -So they held out the plate to her and said solemnly, 'Will you have -this bun?' and Kitty sold them all a good deal, for she opened her -mouth and said: - -'No, thank you.' - -That was exactly what a cat would have done in her place. - -That child is like a cat in some other ways, she spoils property. I -don't suppose her teeth meet in things exactly, but her fingers are as -sharp as claws any day. When Auntie May came in a few moments later, -having got rid of Mr. Fox, I heard some more about Rosamond's famous -doll Wilhelmina. - -It appears that Kitty had once had a delightful toy, an old woman who -lived in a shoe with her ten children, and that after she had had it a -month Kitty undressed all the children and stripped them to see if any -of them had measles or not. She then lost their clothes, or used them -for something else, painting rags, I believe, so the old woman had to -keep all her children in the toe for decency. We talked about the old -woman for a long time, and then--I suppose Auntie May had forgotten -about the fate of the doll, for she turned to Rosamond and asked her -what had become of Wilhelmina? - -To my great surprise Rosamond, who is thirteen and hardly ever cries, -burst into tears and spilt all the tea out of her mouth on to the -tablecloth. - -'Wilhelmina died,' said Kitty hastily. 'Poor thing!' - -'Don't _you_ pity her, _you_ murdered her,' sobbed Rosamond. 'Oh, -Auntie May, she broke her and pulled her all to sticks and streaks, and -she had been all through scarlet fever with me--' - -'And she had been _defected_, she had,' said Kitty, tremendously -interested. - -'Shut up, you snake!--which left Wilhelmina weak and easily breakable, -and so when Kitty got hold of her she just sighed and came in pieces. -I have never minded anything in my life so much, and Kitty never even -said she was sorry.' - -'I'll make her,' said Amerye, taking part in the conversation for the -first time. 'Come along with me, Kitty, and I'll _make_ you sorry!' - -Tea was over and she marched Kitty into a corner, and Auntie May said -she would give Rosamond a new doll if she really cared so much. - -'Not now,' Rosamond said. 'I am rising fourteen now, as Daddy says, and -the next doll I have will have to be a real one. No more make-believe -children for me, thank you!' - -'Only tink, Mees,' said Fraülein Grueber to Auntie May, 'what dat dear -shild make me soffer! I try very hard to train her mind. I say to her -when we are promenading togedder, how you call dis or dat naturlish -object? It is what you call the Kindergarten method--teach her her -nouns and werbs. Dere are some cows in the field, and I say, "Kiddy, -what do you call dose tings?" and Kiddy she answer, "Pigs." I say, "No, -Kiddy, not pig, try again," and she say, "Well, den, rooks." Then I get -angert, and I say, shaking my umberell, "You make a fool of me, Kiddy, -and what are they? Finish!" And Kiddy, she smile sweetly and say, -"Mushrooms." Then I am quite out of myself, and I say, "No tea for you, -Kiddy, till you tell me what dose are!" Then she seem a bit worried, -and she look hard at the cows and she say, "Monkeys!" - -'I take her and I shake her and I say, "Kiddy, no jam with your tea!" -and she only reply, "I not care for jam," which is one big lie and she -know it. Then she appear all at once to melt and say, "Fraülein, I tell -you, because you are so kind," and I say, "Yes, yes, my shild!" all in -haste to be friends mit her again, and she whisper in my ear, "Liddle -boys!" Then I lose my whole head completely and I whip her toroughly. -Here, kom, my own liebchen, my lamb, have you been good and made your -apologies to your sisterchen?' - -Kitty had just come in again, led by Amerye. - -'IamsorryRosamond,' she said, all in one word to show how little she -cared. 'Now, Amerye, take me to see your chickens as you promised.' - -'I said if Auntie May will come too,' corrected Amerye. And so, to help -Amerye to keep the promise by which she had got Kitty to beg Rosamond's -pardon (Kitty wasn't allowed near the hen-house because of something -she once had done--I could never find out what), Auntie May had to -say 'yes,' and off we all went to the hen-house, although poor Auntie -May had only bead slippers on, while Amerye had goloshes. I had no -shoes, but Auntie May took me across her shoulder. I did not mind going -so long as I was not taken up to those awfully rude rabbits, and I -suspected they were somewhere that way; people generally keep all their -children's nuisances in one place. But we did not after all go near -them, and all I saw was nice hens, and one duck with a beak exactly the -colour of Amerye's hair. All his family had been eaten, but somehow he -had got left out so long that they hadn't the heart to kill him. - -[Illustration: AUNTIE MAY TOOK ME ACROSS HER SHOULDER.] - -I was glad they didn't put me down among the animals. I didn't fancy -that broad bill of the duck's fumbling at me. - -Next day at luncheon Kitty scored off Miss Grueber again. Kitty adores -chocolate pudding, and when it is there she gallops through her first -helping of rice so as to be ready for chocolate. - -Miss Grueber, who knew this, said, 'Kiddy, you are done your rice -double-quick time. I see you come. _Now_ what you want?' - -And Kitty said very politely, 'Some _more_ rice pudding, if you please.' - -That night I was back in the drawing-room again, on Beatrice's knee, -and they all talked of ghosts. I was surprised to hear that Mrs. -Gilmour had seen several north-country ghosts. In fact she knew them -very well, and said there was no need to be afraid of them, for they -never touched you. - -Auntie May made her quite angry by telling her that her cat Petronilla -saw ghosts. - -'Last year,' said Auntie May, 'I took her to Littlecote, the famous -Elizabethan mansion that is haunted by Wild Darrell. We had Queen -Elizabeth's room, with a stone carved mantelpiece that seemed to -overhang the whole room. Pet slept on my bed on the side farthest -away from the door. About the middle of the night--I was not exactly -sleeping very well myself--I felt her stirring, and I lit a candle, -for there is of course no electric light in such a very old house. -Petronilla was sitting up in her place, staring out at something near -the door. Her great green eyes were round and dilated. She sat staring -fixedly in the same direction for quite five minutes--' - -'Are you quite sure as to the number of minutes?' asked Mrs. Gilmour, -sarcastically. - -'I could not help staring too, though I saw nothing but my white -dressing-gown hanging on the door. Poor Pet saw more than that, I -am sure. At last she sighed and took her eyes slowly off, and lay down -again and never stirred. I knew by that that the ghost was no longer -visible.' - -'I am much obliged to you for confounding me with your feline pets,' -remarked Mrs. Gilmour. 'And now I think, Beatrice, as I am rather -tired, I will say good-night. Miss Graham, excuse my remarking it, but -I do think you have cat on the brain!' - -'She's offended,' said Beatrice, 'and now she'll cut me off with a -shilling. I must say, May dear, that for a novelist you are about the -most tactless person I ever knew.' - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - MY FIRST MOUSE - - -Mrs. Gilmour was never very nice to Auntie May after that. She began to -be nasty again at breakfast. Auntie May was reading her letters, and -one of them was from Mrs. Dillon. - -'"Admiral Togo,"' Auntie May read out, '"_is the chief joy of my -life_." Oh listen, all of you, for you will be so much amused; I am -not, for of course it seems to me the obvious and natural thing to do. -"He is coming with me to my winter quarters in South Africa."' - -'And Mr. Dillon--is he being left behind?' said Mrs. Gilmour. 'Though -after all, what is a husband in comparison with a cat? And she is -taking a hired attendant for him, and possibly a chef, and engaging a -private cabin for him--of _course_?' - -'There isn't a Mr. Dillon,' said Auntie May, shaking with laughter, -'but as far as the cabin goes, that is precisely what she _is_ doing. -She says so.' - -Mrs. Gilmour looked a little put out for a moment, then she said: - -'I don't suppose they would admit the young gentleman except on those -conditions. Well, well, if people have absurd fancies they must pay for -them. Your friend seems to have plenty of good money to throw away!' - -Auntie May said she would send a letter of directions to Mrs. Dillon's -maid, to tell her how to feed the kitten on the voyage. Forgetting -apparently that Mrs. Gilmour was there still, she went on: - -'When medicine has to be given, I prefer it in the form of powders.' -Mrs. Gilmour pretended to be interested in order to be nastier -afterwards. 'To liquids they close their throats somehow, and it runs -out of the corner of their mouths. As for giving pills! Petronilla -shoots the pill several feet into the air, and the first thing that -tells me she hasn't swallowed it is the noise it makes as it hits the -ceiling. Poor Pet! She appears to think it funny.' - -'So do I!' said Beatrice, screaming with laughter. 'I think I see -Petronilla, with her Burne-Jones angel expression, staring up to the -ceiling to see if she has hit the bull's eye, and you in despair -because you can't get the pills driven into her.' - -'Has your cat had any _very_ alarming illnesses?' inquired Mrs. -Gilmour, with a very perfidious expression, but Auntie May was quite -taken in by her appearance of interest. - -'Let me see, Petronilla has had gastritis, and she has once ricked her -back jumping backwards, and then she had to have massage--' - -'Did it come expensive?' inquired the old lady. - -'Yes, very. My cats cost me a fortune. What with their food and their -illnesses, etc., what I can raise on Pet's kittens hardly repays me for -my outlay.' - -'Why don't you keep a nice common underbred kitchen cat that nobody -wants to steal? A serviceable beast that can go out in all weathers, -and get through the long grass without getting its fur wet and -draggled,' said Mrs. Gilmour. - -'But as I live in London,' retorted Auntie May, 'where there is no long -grass--' - -'In London,' said Tom, 'I should say myself that a nice tiler and -mouser would be more appropriate.' - -'I don't like tilers and mousers or beetlers in my bed,' said Auntie -May hotly. 'I should never care to kiss cats that had any horrid -pursuit of that kind. And as for mice--do you mean to imply, Tom, that -Loki cannot catch a mouse as well as anybody if he had the chance?' - -Mrs. Gilmour sneered, and Auntie May got quite pink. - -'There are plenty in my carpentering shed,' said Tom. 'Why don't you -let him have a try?' - -'It's disgusting!' said Auntie May. 'But yet--I can't have Loki -depreciated and looked down on. Very well, I will turn him in there for -a few hours and give him a chance of winning his spurs, only I am not -sure if he does that I shall ever feel able to speak to him again! He -has something better to do in life than catching mice, but I won't have -him humiliated, and he _shall_ show you that he can take mousing in his -stride.' - -To me she said, 'Now, Loki, do your level best, but only this once, -mind. You are not to become a slave to the mousing habit, or let it -grow on you. Come along to the carpenter's shed.' - -She took me there and left me alone, shutting the door after her. I -implored her to stay, but she said No, that I must go through it -alone. At first I cried, but becoming convinced she could not hear -me, I left off. I played with shavings for about an hour. It was my -first introduction to the fascinating, lovely, curly, crunchy, clean, -white things. I could bunch them up in my paws and throw them over my -shoulder, and they crackled and twisted when I seized them again as if -they were alive. - -[Illustration: I PLAYED WITH SHAVINGS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR.] - -I had never seen a mouse in my life. - -Presently I saw what I should have said were two bright boot-buttons -set very near together, side by side, though, not one on top of the -other as they would be all down a boot. That roused my suspicions, and -I made a wild dash into the heap of shavings whence they peeped out. -I can say no more than this to account for what I did. I felt horrid -afterwards, not to say rather ill, but at the time I felt nothing but a -desire to get that mouse (for, of course, it was a mouse), and lay it -at the feet of Auntie May, or, better still, throw it in Mrs. Gilmour's -face. I should have died if I had not got it, and I did get it. It -_was_ a mouse, although I hardly looked. I just put my paws, which are -very broad and long, on it and it lay quite still beneath them and -didn't move a bit. - -I did not know what in the world to do with it now that I had got it -safe. I knew that decency dictated that I should eat it, but I had not -the slightest idea where to begin, and I suppose, while I was thinking, -I let my paws rest on it rather more lightly, and it suddenly got up -and walked away! - -I could not stand such an arrant piece of cheek as that, so I got it -back, with very little trouble, for it had not gone far. In a few -moments I loosened my paws again on purpose to see what it would do. -Sure enough it walked away again! It began to be a sort of game we were -playing, and my blood was up. - -It was really rather a cheeky mouse, I think, and enjoyed the game as -much as I did. Presently I varied the fun a little and tossed it up -and down two or three times in the air, catching it again in my paws. -This went on a long time, and I got quite excited, till the last time -it came down it lay quite still, and though I waited for it to walk -away again as usual it did not make the slightest attempt to get up. I -believe it was dead, really and truly, not pretending, but there wasn't -a bruise on its body or a hole in its skin anywhere, for I looked -carefully. I got bored with it and caught another. That one I nipped -in catching, I suppose, for it died at once. I tried to eat it, but no, -I find I don't care for mouse-flesh. - -Before Tom and Beatrice came for me I had laid another brown body -beside the other two, and Tom said when he saw them: - -'One to May! Game little cat! Three in two hours!' - -Auntie May hadn't felt able to come, but Beatrice told her all about it. - -'He didn't really eat any, May, only tried one. It looked like the -inside of a clock somehow.' - -'Oh, don't, you pig!' screamed Auntie May, and cried, actually cried, -about the poor, dear, dead, darling little mice! I cried too, and -promised her I would never catch any more. As a matter of fact, it -really isn't a bit in my line. I am not a stable, or a kitchen, or even -a carpenter's cat, and mousing is not a fit pursuit for Petronilla's -child. - -'So Loki has vindicated his reputation!' remarked Mrs. Gilmour, when -she heard of what Beatrice was pleased to call my prowess. 'Disgusting -little cruel wretch! The principle of cruelty is deeply embedded in a -cat's consciousness. Now a dog--' - -'What does a dog do to a rat?' asked Auntie May rudely. But Mrs. -Gilmour took no notice. - -'The dog is a noble animal--' - -'I once wrote that out a hundred times in my copy-book,' observed -Amerye, 'and I can't write any better now, and I hate dogs because of -it!' - -'Hush, Amerye, you are rude!' said Miss Grueber. - -'A dog has dignity, a cat has only impudence,' continued Mrs. Gilmour, -'and comes when he is called--' - -'To dinner, eh?' said Auntie May. 'I never knew a cat that would come -when it was called to dinner, even. A cat is at least consistent. A dog -is too greedy to wait to be consistent.' - -'A dog can be greedy with dignity!' said Mrs. Gilmour. 'I have seen -him. And yet he is man's slave--self-constituted.' - -'I prefer the independence of cats,' retorted Auntie May. 'They won't -be hustled--why should they? It is a mistake to want to enslave them -and destroy all their individuality. Dogs simply feed the love of -domineering that is implanted in our natures. Men--you even, Tom, the -nicest of them--enjoy saying "To heel, sir!" A cat never follows, it -goes before, and looks back and waits for you if it fancies you. It -has pronounced likes and dislikes, and is not afraid to show them. A -dog will lick any one's hand.' - -'And a cat will scratch any one's nose. How do you manage in London, -Miss Graham, when you have to go out? Do you confide in all your -partners, and tell them that it was your favourite cat that scratched -you through thick and thin?' - -'Yes, May,' said Beatrice, 'I could not help looking at your neck last -night at dinner, and wondering how you managed?' - -'That was poor Loki,' said Auntie May hastily. 'He _will_ get on to my -shoulder and take flying leaps at the electric light globes.' - -'I don't see why he need kick off from your neck, though,' said Tom. - -'Oh, don't blame his dear spirits!' said that nasty old woman. 'Do you -see him now trying to run away with the blind tassel? He will hang -himself to a certainty.' - -I was sitting on the window seat and playing with the cord. I was not -aware that it was attached to the blind, for it was lying quite quietly -on the sill when it came into my head that I should like to carry it -off to play with. When, having got it well between my jaws, I leapt -off with it, I found myself hanging to it by my teeth, and it gave me -a nasty jar. - -One thing I noticed, although Mrs. Gilmour was always down on me when -Auntie May was there, she was quite different when we were alone -together. Then she used to hold out her wrinkled claw and flip her -ribbons to attract me, and say, 'Poos! Poos!' as if she wished me to -come to her; but I was not quite sure, so I never ventured, though -she was not a bad old thing in the main and awfully fond of her -grandchildren, and scolded them only very gently for the noise they -made every day about six o'clock. - -I don't know how it was, but at that time they all lost their heads, -and screeched and shouted and walloped about the house like maniacs or -cats, with Miss Grueber scolding them, but not in a way to make them -leave off. I used to feel quite excited too, and run after their legs, -and nearly get trodden on; and Miss Grueber's large flat foot was no -joke, I can tell you. Still, it was quite amusing playing Blind Man's -Buff and not getting caught. They always put me into their games, and -politely caught me when I put myself in the way of the one who was -blindfolded. Of course I could not be blindfolded, so they had to let -me off being Blind Man, like Kitty, who never would play fair, but -always peeped under the handkerchief. - -'Don't be angry with her, she's only a child!' Rosamond used to say, -'and let her go last down stairs, because we are heavier, and might -come on top of her.' - -They used to come down the stairs helter-skelter on their stomachs, -bumping on every step. I used to come down too, but I could not help -using my feet, and therefore I ran along by the side of them, and got -to the bottom first. - -Once Mrs. Gilmour came out of the drawing-room, just as the whole -procession landed on the mat at the bottom of the staircase. The noise -was deafening. She remarked on it. - -'My dear children,' she said, standing at the open door of the -drawing-room as they all came tumbling at her feet, 'I tremble to think -what your little stomachs must look like! Have you ever seen toast done -on a gridiron? And the racket is deafening. Such yells! Have you all -gone mad? And the cat too, he makes as much noise as any of you!' - -'Oh, Granny,' pleaded Rosamond, very much out of breath, 'please don't -mind the row. It's only just after six. Don't you know that children -and cats always go a little wild at night?' - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE CHILDREN'S HOUR - - -Mr. Fox had a large house-party at Shortleas for a week's shooting, and -he asked Tom and Beatrice to come and bring Auntie May, and stay three -days. Beatrice wanted to accept, so Mrs. Gilmour agreed to stay and -look after the children. - -'He doesn't ask Loki!' said Beatrice slily. 'Can you possibly do -without him for a week, May?' - -'_I_ can take care of him,' said Rosamond eagerly, 'and he can sleep on -my bed, can't he?' - -'And on mine too,' pleaded Amerye. - -Kitty said nothing. She knew she wouldn't be trusted to have a cat or -anything else on her bed. - -'We will take him on alternate nights, Amerye,' said Rosamond, and -so that was settled. Beatrice and Tom and Auntie May drove over to -Shortleas in the dog-cart. Auntie May looked far sorrier to leave me -than glad to go to stay with Mr. Fox. She has never liked him really -since he didn't bear to be in the same room with her cat. - -Then the children solemnly took possession of me, and Rosamond -prevented them from hugging me and lifting me. She never allowed -anybody to do that but herself. She is a domineering little thing. -I lived in the schoolroom all day, and went up to bed with them at -eight. Miss Grueber went up too with them to their rooms, and they -had bed drill. It was very odd. They undressed by drill, they had -brushing-teeth drill, they had health-exercises drill. I wondered if -they would have prayers drill, but they did that alone, without Miss -Grueber, all kneeling down by the side of their beds, and tucking their -nightgowns carefully under their toes for fear I were to play with them -and distract them, which I certainly should have done, because they -were quite pink. - -The brushing-teeth drill was very funny. One, pour water in the glass! -Two, lid off box of tooth-powder! Three, dip brush in glass! Four, dip -brush in tooth-powder! Five, scrub! Repeat five times! Then, Listerine! - -They had separate beds, at least Kitty's was not much more than a -crib, she was so little. The moment Fraülein Grueber had gone they -all three got into the same--Rosamond's or Amerye's, there was a -different hostess each night. Then they babbled for an hour or so, -till they fell asleep. They called it an hour, but children always -exaggerate, and I don't believe it was more than twenty minutes. They -discussed everything, all the things that had been discussed before -them, and whispered before them, and said when they were out of the -room even--they seemed to have heard and to know everything. Rosamond -snubbed Amerye because she had been to stay in London with Auntie May -five times, while Amerye had only been three times. They both snubbed -Kitty because she had never been to London at all. They found her very -convenient, because she was supposed to want to know things, and gave -them a chance of talking about London. She knew that, and sometimes -teased them by saying that she didn't want to hear anything about the -horrid place where she had never been. - -Amerye began like this: - -'Do you know that when I was in London--?' - -'Of course we know. Go on.' - -'Well, when I was in London I went to _Everyman_.' - -'Were taken, you mean.' - -'Went to a play called _Everyman_, and I cried, and Auntie May cried, -and Mr. What's-his-name cried. They both said it made them feel so -wicked. It didn't make me feel wicked, only sad and hungry.' - -'When I was in London,' said Rosamond, 'I went to see Henry Irving as -Faust, and I had to go away to the very back of the box.' - -'Why?' asked Kitty. 'Petticoat coming down, or sick?' - -'No, neither, but because I was nervous.' - -'Nervous! Pooh! It was because you were afraid of the devil, you said -last time.' - -'So I was, till I found out it was Sir Henry Irving, and then I liked -him and came back to the front seat again, and fell in love with him--' - -'Fell in love with the devil? How could you?' - -'Everybody does in London.' - -'Now, Amerye, you tell us some more about London,' begged Kitty, whose -business it was to keep the balance true between them. - -'Well, I went to lunch in a restaurant with Auntie May, and had -tournedos--that means turn your back.' - -'What to?' - -'The fire, of course, till they were done,' said Amerye quickly. 'They -were all seamed across in bars. I ate two.' - -'And what did you drink?' - -'Ah--oh--lemonade. Auntie May had champagne.' - -'I've had champagne once--in London,' said Rosamond thoughtfully. - -'How much?' - -'Half a wine-glassful.' - -'And how did you feel?' - -'As if I should like to lay my head on somebody's shoulder and go to -sleep.' - -'That's being drunk.' - -'That isn't a nice word to use, Amerye.' - -'It is not a nice thing to be,' said Amerye severely. - -'Children! Children!' said Kitty. 'Tell us some more, Rosamond.' - -'Last time I was in London,' began Rosamond eagerly, 'I sat to -grandpapa with Petronilla on my lap.' - -'Did you sit still?' - -'I did, but Petronilla didn't. She wiggled and wobbled and made my -hands simply ache. At last I got a ball of Auntie May's crewel wools -to hold scrumped up into the shape of Petronilla. That was when he was -doing my hands. I washed them first.' - -'And is it like you--the portrait?' - -'I don't know,' said Rosamond carelessly. 'Grandpapa keeps it in a -corner with a lot of old easels and things on top of it. He is going -to finish it, some day, when I'm altered. Now, Amerye, you can tell us -about the Zoo.' - -Amerye began in a great hurry, for fear, I suppose, Rosamond took back -her permission. - -'Well, when I was in London I was always asking Auntie May to take me -to the Zoo--teased her, _she_ said, and gave her no peace--and she kept -putting off and putting off, saying she was too busy. She never seemed -able to fix a day. But one afternoon when we were out paying calls--' - -'I suppose she left you in the hall then? She did me sometimes.' - -'Not often,' said Amerye, 'and if there were children in the call I -always went up to them. We got into a bus--' - -'Is that a kind of trap?' said Kitty. - -'All carriages are traps, but all traps aren't carriages, dear Kitty,' -said Rosamond. 'Don't interrupt till the end. Go on, Amerye.' - -'We bundled along for many miles and then stopped at the garden gate of -a house, and got out and paid a shilling and a sixpence and went in. -It was a very railey garden with walks between, and I said, "Is it a -long walk up to the house?" and Auntie May said it was. There were some -long-legged birds walking in the grass beside us and some deer, but I -didn't notice them much, for I was anxious to find out if any children -were there. There were several gardeners in livery walking about. Then -we came to a cage with some owls in it bobbing up and down--' - -'Like that dear brown one,' said Kitty, 'that lived in the crooked tree -for three months and then went to the devil, father said.' - -'And I said to Auntie May, "Your friends seem very fond of animals," -and she said, "Oh yes, perfectly mad on beasts, they are!" Then we went -under a low archway, and there we met two lots of children carrying -buns, and I must say I thought them very rude carrying away their -teas like that. But I said nothing out loud, only I hoped I should be -allowed to go up to nursery tea at the house, as there seemed quite a -lot of children about, and it would be fun--' - -'Now you have gone on long enough,' said Rosamond. 'Tell her what it -was.' - -'It was the Zoo. For I then saw a camel and a bear much too large for -any private house, and I said to Auntie May, "Oh, Auntie May, you have -brought me to the Zoo after all."' - -'I love that story,' said Kitty. 'And then tell how a man gave you some -monstrous biscuits for the bears and Auntie May gave him sixpence. And -how then you met a man who was king of the Zoo!' - -'Yes,' said Amerye, 'and he gave the bears some Nestlé's milk, and let -Auntie May have a baby wolf to hold in her arms. Its mother seemed a -very nice collie dog, like Meg. And then--and then'--(Kitty shrieked -with delight)--'he went into the cage beside a Snow leopard, a thing -just like a large cat--' - -It was here that _I_ got so excited that I leaped up on to the bed on -to the top of them. - -'Oh, here's dear Loki! Come up, Loki, and hear about the leopard. Make -yourself comfortable, and if you _must_ stick your claws in and out, do -it where the clothes are thickest, that is all we ask you. Go on, Amy.' - -'This man went in and the leopard was asleep in a corner. He climbed -up a sort of tree and pulled its legs.' - -'Brave man! Didn't he spoil his clothes and get scolded?' - -'Yes, jolly well scolded by his wife who stayed outside. He said it -didn't matter, for this little game would soon have to come to an end, -for the leopard was getting a big boy now. It came after him rubbing -about like a cat, and it lay down all curly, and invited him to play -with it, and nipped the edge of his trousers, and he took it up all of -a piece, as we take up Loki, and it crowded all over him, but it was -happiest biting his legs and his hand. Then it got wilder and wilder -and wanted him to roll over too, and he got frightened and he came out, -and his wife dusted the sawdust off him.' - -'Is that all the leopard?' asked Kitty. - -'Yes, that is all. I wish there was some more for Loki's sake. I must -not tell you about the kangaroos with their children in their pockets -coming hopping across the ground up to us, it will bore poor Loki--oh, -I'll tell you about the cat-house, where I saw the very king of cats -that lived in Egypt and was praised.' - -'How praised?' asked Kitty. - -'Why, put on a high chair and said prayers to. That's praised. The man -and Auntie May were talking about them and saying that they were an -ugly breed of cats to be set above all the others--why, Kitty, you're -asleep! You _are_ rude!' - -'No, I'm not,' said Kitty. 'I am only pretending.' - -'Nonsense! You sound all bunged up with sleep,' said Rosamond, in a -queer smothery tone. 'This is my bed and I want it myself. Hoof her -out, Amerye.' - -'I'll go of my own self,' said Kitty, 'because you're both getting -dull. Good-night, you _un_-lovers.' - -She slipped out and went back to her crib. - -'I _am_ rather tired, I see,' she said as she climbed in, dragging her -legs after her. (I was too tired myself to go after them.) 'I'm a bit -good-for-nothing, like mother. Good-night.' - -Rosamond and Amerye had a fight as to which of them should have _me_, -but I settled that by slipping away and finding a nice high undraughty -place on the chiffonnier. They always absurdly imagine we want a bed. -As it was quite dark, and they weren't allowed matches, Rosamond and -Amerye gave up all hope of finding me, and went to sleep, and snored, a -sound which is more like our purring than anything else I ever heard. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - THE SURPRISE THAT FELL FLAT - - -It was the day that Auntie May and Tom and Beatrice were to come home, -and the children were very anxious to welcome them in some special -way. Welcoming always seems with children to mean doing something they -like, and that the grown-up people are not likely to like, and this is -exactly what happened. - -They told Mrs. Gilmour a little about it, but not all, and asked if -she did not think dressing-up was the best way of welcoming father and -mother. It is extraordinary how naughty old ladies can be, far worse -than children, when they give their minds to it. - -Mrs. Gilmour suggested that they should all take off their skirts to -begin with, and appear in their blue serge knickerbockers, and then she -would see what could be done. Rosamond dirtied her face and put on a -large tattered hat with no regular brim, and let one stocking fall down -to show her knee, cut on purpose, and she said she was a backwoodsman -out of Jules Verne. Kitty had already rather short hair, and she cut it -shorter herself, till in five minutes she looked exactly like a badly -barbered boy. Mrs. Gilmour let her. Did I not say she was a wicked -old lady? As for Amerye, she disappeared, and I heard that she went -into the housemaid's pantry and got her box of black lead and blacked -herself all over with it, imitating the sweep in the _Water-Babies_ who -went to sleep in little Ellie's room. She then went and lay down in -Beatrice's pretty bed. Mrs. Gilmour never missed her; she was so busy -knitting me a pair of socks--one could hardly call it a pair, Rosamond -said, the only thing to do was to call it a quartette. I wished to -oblige and share in the nice surprise they meant to give Beatrice, so -I kept them on, all except one; for I had to have a hind paw left free -ready to scratch myself with, and took up my place on the hall mat -about the time Auntie May was due. I always wait for her. - -At last we heard the noise of wheels. Rosamond got behind the door, and -Mrs. Gilmour stood with her hand on Kitty's shoulder, who looked truly -hideous, and waited, all on the broad grin. - -When the trap drove up there was only Auntie May in it, the others had -stopped at the east gate to speak to one of the foresters. So Auntie -May had the surprise all to herself, and she seemed more surprised than -pleased. She got out and cried out: - -'They've sent me on to order tea. We are all frozen. How are you, Mrs. -Gilmour? Who is that boy you have got with you?' - -'It is a little boy I borrowed to keep me company while you were all -away,' said Mrs. Gilmour, running her hands through Kitty's hair. - -'What a queer-looking child! Looks as if he had water on the brain!' -Auntie May said in a low voice, but Kitty heard. - -Then Auntie May took _me_ up in her arms and mumbled me, and kissed me. -'Sweetums! Didums! Who's been making a fool of you with your red socks? -Poor lamb, get out of them at once. I see they worry you. Mercy, who -is this?' as Rosamond bounced out at her. 'Rosamond, what an object! -Have you been gardening? You _are_ filthy. Don't come near me until you -are cleaned up, please. You seem all to have quite gone mad. But never -mind, so long as we get a cup of hot tea. Here's Beatrice at last. -Beatrice, I have ordered tea. I simply couldn't wait!' - -Those idiotic children rushed off to the schoolroom in a body and -howled. Kitty had cut off her hair so that her own aunt did not know -her, and the chances were that her own mother wouldn't either, she -thought. In fact, the surprise had been a horrid failure. I could have -told her that her own mother would know her fast enough if she _chose_ -to, and would, moreover, punish her well for having cut off her own fur -like that without waiting for the barber, who comes once a month to -barber them all properly. - -Sure enough, there was an awful to-do, especially when they found -Amerye playing sweep in her mother's nice clean bed with pink hangings. -Kitty and Amerye were sent to bed without any supper except a bit -of dry bread, and Rosamond, not having done anything particular to -herself--trust her not to make herself ugly!--was scolded for having -allowed Kitty to cut her own hair all crooked across the forehead. -Only Mrs. Gilmour, the grown-up lady who had helped it all on, got off -without a scolding, as they always do. - -I was scolded for one or two little things I had done while Auntie May -was away, and especially for the packet of tapestry nails or pins, -whatever you do call the horrid things that I shall never see again -without a shudder and feeling myself all over. - -'I tell you what, May,' said Beatrice. 'I am resigned to Loki's passing -his nose over everything, reading postcards and docketing bills and -superintending the post generally, but when it comes to opening my -parcels for me, I do think it is too much. There were, I believe, a -thousand nails in that packet he demolished. I can't fag to count them -over now, but if their number is incomplete, I should say that the -balance was in your cat's stomach. _He_ knows, probably.' - -I did _not_ know, they were such trifling, two-penny-halfpenny things -that one of them might easily have stuck to my tongue in turning them -over. The dread saddened my last days at Crook Hall. - -On the whole it had been a very pleasant time. They had made me quite -one of the family, allowing me to share their meals, their pains, their -scoldings, and their games. No one could beat me at romps, but in the -six-to-seven, when they played card games, I was a little out of it. -There was the 'Kings of England' that Auntie May and Beatrice always -quarrelled over, and the 'Flower Loto' in which Auntie May, not being a -country person, seemed such a muff, and the 'Towns' game where Rosamond -was such a dab because of her good memory, and the 'Pictures in the -National Gallery' which was the one Kitty liked best. She was pretty -quick, but she made such a hash of the pronunciation of the names of -the pictures that the others laughed at her, and yet she generally won. -She would say, very politely, because she knew she could not pronounce -it: - -'Will you give me please, Rosamond, the Fighting--oh dear, I can hardly -pernounce it--the Fighting Temenare, by Turner?' - -'The Fighting Temeraire, I suppose you mean, Kitty,' Rosamond would -reply chillingly, not even troubling to say that she hadn't got it. -'Infant Samuel, Amerye? Look sharp!' - -'Ain't got him, my dear child. Kitty, Infant Samuel?' - -'Not at home, I regret to say. Rosamond, will you, if you please, give -me Dignity and _Imperence_, by Landseer, unless it is the one I see you -have just let fall into the _wasperbasket_.' - -'I can give you Dignity,' said Rosamond, forking it up out of the -wastepaper basket, where, sure enough, it was where Kitty said it had -fallen. 'And you have got the other, haven't you, already?' - -'They _do_ go together,' said Kitty, not seeing that Rosamond wanted to -snub her. And that's the way they went on. - -It was lovely, and I could have stayed there for ever, only at home -Auntie May's papa was growing impatient. He wrote to Auntie May -continually, to ask why in the name of wonder, if Beatrice was better, -Auntie May didn't come home. He said slily he thought the maids were -getting into bad ways, and didn't prepare the cats' meals properly, and -that Petronilla was pining, and that her two kittens had ceased to obey -her, in fact were becoming unmanageable. - -He asked who this Mr. Fox was, and seemed to think he was the reason -Auntie May didn't come home. I could have told him better than that, -for whenever Mr. Fox came Auntie May said, 'What a bore! I shall have -to shut poor Loki up. You hate the nasty man, Loki, don't you?' - -'One tame cat always resents another,' said Mrs. Gilmour. - -'Ah, do they? We shall be going home for Christmas,' said Auntie May, -'and then Mr. Fox will be able to breathe freely.' - -'He lives in London in the winter, I believe,' said Beatrice. - -'Well, London's wide. He won't need to run up against Loki and me any -more, unless he likes,' said Auntie May, and she packed up her trunks -(I know of nothing more delightful to sit in than a trunk on crackly -paper, until you are turned out) and back we went. - -I had become quite a good traveller by this time, and had my system. -That is to lie quite still, curled round, to let nobody or nothing -disturb you, and not to be persuaded to look out of the basket for love -or fish till the train rushes through the tunnels into King's Cross -station. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - FROM TOP TO BOTTOM - - -The moment we arrived at No. 100 Egerton Gardens Auntie May, finding -out that her father had just gone round to his club, rushed upstairs to -find her family, while I trotted at her heels, and screamed out before -she had used her eyes almost: - -'Oh, my darling dearest old Petronilla! They tell me that you have been -pining for me.' - -Mother had her nose buried in a saucer of milk, and waited a moment -before she looked up, then she let Auntie May take her in her arms -and 'poor-poor' her, and she herself began to purr very prettily, but -still there was a good deal of difference between the two greetings. -It isn't that mother has no feelings, but that she is good at hiding -them. As for Zobeide and Freddy, they were biting each other's heads -off at the other end of the room, and took no notice. I didn't want -to distract mother from being nice to Auntie May, so I went up to my -brother and sister and spoke to them. But they had no time to listen to -me, and their game looked so exciting that I was roped in before I knew -where I was, and Fred rolled me over and punched me with his hind legs -by mistake for Zobeide. So that was all the how-do-you-do that I got, -after three months' separation. As for mother, when she was done with -Auntie May, she just gave me a comprehensive lick that seemed to say -everything. - -Home was delightful enough after that. And then mother's accident came. - -Mother is still very playful for her age, and people notice it. You can -get her all lengths with a bit of string, and none of us can beat her -in a helter-skelter race from the top of the house to the bottom. You -hear her bumping on each story like an india-rubber ball. (We could -never play this game except when Mr. Graham was out. The old make -everything so stiff. Auntie May had no objection.) Sometimes when we -felt very fresh we chased mother _upstairs_, which is much more tiring, -and it was when we were doing this that the accident happened. - -Mother got a good start of us, and Fred was after her like a wild cat. -He soon got close to her heels, and kept it up all the way to Auntie -May's room at the very top of the house. The window of that room was -open, but Freddy was too wild to see it. He simply chased mother across -the room and out of the window, very nearly following her himself, but -able to arrest his mad course on the sill just in time. I, too, managed -to stop on the floor behind, and I said to my brother gravely: - -'You've never gone and chased mother out of the window, Fred?' - -He said, 'I am sure I don't know. Where _has_ mother got to?' He seemed -quite stunned. - -Then Auntie May came up, quite out of breath, followed by Mary, to whom -she said: - -'Mary, I saw something like a streak of silver lightning go past Mr. -Graham's room, where I was sorting his collars. Is it possible that it -was poor Pet?' - -She looked out of the window, and told Mary she could see nothing. -Freddy had got into a corner under something. - -'Perhaps, Miss,' said Mary, 'she's that mangled as to be -unrecognisable! The young girl that fell in my mother's street was -taken up all mashed up like--' - -Auntie May didn't say anything at all, but just went downstairs to look -if what Mary said was true. Nobody thought of preventing me and Fred, -so we went along too. - -Our mistress first looked all over the yard, where mother, if she -really _had_ fallen out of the window, was bound to have come down. But -there was nothing there. Only there was a little tiny smear of blood on -the edge of the tin dustbin. I heard them say so. - -Auntie May grew quite pale, and went to the other side of the house -that was connected with the common garden. We followed her. There, sure -enough, we all saw poor mother hiding under a laurel bush, and shaking -like a leaf. Her lip was bleeding. She must have picked herself up when -she first fell, and run all the way round by the tradesmen's entrance. - -'Oh, mother,' cried Fred, who got to her first, 'what have you been and -done to yourself?' - -'Hush!' said mother. 'I cut my lip on the dustbin in falling, that's -all. Bit my tongue, I think. Don't make a fuss--don't say anything!' - -But Auntie May had taken poor mother up very gently in her arms, and -felt her. 'Poor, poor thing! She seems quite dazed--but no bones -broken, I think?' - -'Oh, Miss, them cats could fall out of Heaven and not hurt theirselves, -I do believe. Cat o' nine tails, indeed--' - -'Nine lives, Mary. Here, come along in and get me the whisky and a -spoon!' - -She sat by the fire with mother spread out on her knee, and petted -her and stroked her, and poured a tiny drop of whisky and water down -her throat. She sat nursing her like that for two hours, mother told -me afterwards, for long before that Mary had marched Freddy and me -upstairs, holding us like a string of onions. - -Later in the day mother was brought up and put to bed, very weak and -disinclined to talk. She never scolded either Freddy or me, feeling, no -doubt, that she began it by romping with us, and the matter was never -discussed again. - -I fell out of the very same window myself a year later. It was entirely -my own fault and Mary's habit of being too free with her hands. I was -quietly sitting on the window sill, watching the fat birds fly past the -stone coping, and giving their children walking lessons up the tiles of -the roof opposite, when Mary came in to do the room. - -'Hullo, Boy!' she said, and put out her hand to stroke me. Now, I -always back when people threaten to stroke me--it's a habit--and I -backed on to nothing! Over I went, and I remember nothing more till -I came down whack on the very identical dustbin that poor mother had -cut herself on. I did not cut my lip, but I bit my tongue. I had to -pick myself up, for though poor Mary, as she said, set off running -downstairs as soon as she saw me begin to go, I got to the bottom first. - -'Gracious goodness me! Whatever'll Miss May say? I've done for myself. -Hold up yer head, will yer, and let's see if there's not some life in -yer. Oh, you naughty aggravating thing to bleed at the lip so!' - -'Wipe it off, can't you, Mary?' I said, and she did so with the hem of -her cotton dress. - -'You ain't much hurt after all!' she said, when she had cleaned me up. -She did not notice that I had got my mouth all lop-sided with breaking -one of my long teeth on the right side. I regretted this, for it was -unsymmetrical. I was quite able to walk in, and took it easy for the -rest of the afternoon on the best arm-chair. - -Auntie May was out, so I didn't get any whisky, and when she came in I -told her. - -'Oh, what a long, long story!' said she. 'And what is it all about? -Daddy, he is telling me something that has happened to him as hard as -he can--such a piteous tale!' - -'He threw himself out of the window, Miss,' said Mary, passing by. Of -course I couldn't contradict her, and I didn't want to either, she was -a good soul, was Mary, and I bore her no malice. Cats never do, it's -your precious dogs that remember grievances. - -'I always used to jeer,' said Auntie May to some friends who were -calling next day, 'when people said that cats did not hurt themselves -when they fall, but now I see they are right. Both mine have had their -little experience of this kind, and I am happy to say are not one penny -the worse!' - -She hadn't noticed my short tooth. I found out at the cat-party how -unsightly it was, and what a blemish. - -A friend of Auntie May's, who had three beautiful Persians, gave -a cat-party, and asked Auntie May to it. It was at four o'clock, -refreshments at five, and a dark room provided for cats that would not -behave or fraternise. We three had all bows of different colours, put -on us for once, but at the last minute mother shirked it, and hid so -that Auntie May could not find her. So she had to leave her behind. The -party was not very far off, only across the garden, so she carried us -one under each arm. - -There were about thirty cats at Mrs. Felton's, and only nine of them -were grey like us. There was a ginger cat, with a Roman ribbon round -his neck, who took a fancy to me. Freddy could not be parted from a -white girl-cat; he likes girls, I hate them. I mean never to marry, but -Fred liked female society from the very first. Then there was a black -cat who had been on the stage. He said he had been very much neglected -in his youth, and once had been walking about on the tops of roofs -till he got too far away from his home, and suddenly found himself, -on jumping down some steps, or ladder, or something, in a great wide -covered place, with people on it, shouting. - -They all stopped when they saw him, and a man with a stick rapped it -and said 'Attention--please, ladies _and_ gentlemen.' - -He was the business manager, and the black cat had jumped into the -middle of a dress rehearsal. The real manager was acting, and he took -no notice of the black cat till he was done, and then he wouldn't -have it chased away, for, said he, a black cat brings good luck to a -theatre. So they fed him, and he lived there, and had perfect liberty -to walk about where he pleased. He did go where he pleased, and whether -they were acting or not it made no difference to him, he just walked -on, so they call it, and smelt their boots, or sat on the ladies' -trains, or licked up stage tea-trays if he liked. The reason he was -here was that he was the guest of the manager's daughter, who had taken -him off the stage because he had brought luck to her father's piece. -But he often sighed for the nice merry days. - -[Illustration: A BLACK CAT BRINGS GOOD LUCK TO A THEATRE.] - -There were little saucers of milk and warm Ridge's Food dotted about -the room, one for each cat. Fred and the white cat, however, chose to -drink out of the same saucer. Some of the cats would not stay to be -spoken to, but slunk under chairs, and one nice tom hissed and spat. I -did feel so ashamed of him. He was left severely to himself while the -games were going on, and I was so sorry for him that I went and spoke -to him. - -'Do you live near here?' I asked. - -'Yes,' he said, 'and I wish I was there now. I don't care for this sort -of function. I don't see why I should be asked to sit on my hind legs -and talk to every idiot who comes up and strokes me and says "Puss! -Puss!" I keep thinking of my nice place on the hearthrug at home, and a -little tag--what do you call it?--in the hearthrug that I play with. It -is worth all these fine toys to me. I would not play with that absurd -mouse they are trailing along the ground with shrieks and cries and -"Come ons" for anything. It disgusts me. It is too expensive a toy!' - -For They held up their skirts and played with us, squeaking and -miauling to imitate us. They don't imitate us half as well as the -parrot imitates Them, and I am told that is pretty much the same thing. -The younger kittens took a polite interest in the toy mouse, but we -elders preferred conversation with really sensible cats, and if they -would only have left us alone, we might have enjoyed ourselves. Auntie -May was as bad as the rest, she would keep trying to make me sit on her -knee when I didn't want to, and I had to do it so as not to disgrace -her by disobedience. - -There was a woman talking to her about the habits of cats, and trying -to get hints from my mistress, whom I gathered was rather a boss, about -the care and management of 'kits,' as she would call them. - -'I am such a novice,' said she, 'a mere beginner. But I shall hope to -be showing in a year or so--' - -'I never show,' said Auntie May. 'I think it is most unkind, for the -sake of a wretched prize that you have to subscribe to furnish, to -subject your pet to all those horrid experiences--fleas, frights, -colds, and all the rest of it--' - -'Oh, but I see you make quite a friend of _your_ cats. May I ask if you -allow your kittens to sleep alone? At what age?' - -'As soon as possible,' said Auntie May. 'I never coddle them or allow -them to think of being afraid of the dark.' - -'But don't they cry out and rend your heart? That one, for instance,' -she pointed to Fred, who was crawling up her at the moment. - -'This one!' said Auntie May, stooping to pick up Fred. 'Oh, Fred never -cries--he breaks. If I put him to sleep alone in my study, he does what -he can to show me that it won't do. Many's the time I have come in -apprehensively in the morning and found a mush of fragments of china -or glass on the floor. He writes his name in ink across blank sheets -of paper, he pulls all my correspondence out of my pigeon-holes and -lays it in rows for me to see without labour, he separates shoes and -earrings and gloves and everything that likes to live in a pair. Oh, he -is a regular demon, I _must_ get rid of him some day.' - -'Don't sell him to me,' said the lady affectedly, 'after the character -you have given him.' - -By six o'clock carriages were ordered. There was a great chivying, -and would any one believe that some of them did not know their own -cats? Auntie May knew hers, no fear. Some of us had been sick, but -the hostess said it didn't matter, as she had put a drugget down to -avert the evils of such a contingency. I am not a bit ashamed of being -sick any more than Auntie May is ashamed of blowing her nose. It is a -perfectly natural action. - -We none of us said Goodbye to each other. They never gave us time. Fred -and his white cat were really a little sorry to part, but they said -nothing, only she gave him a look over her mistress's shoulder which -seemed to say, 'I hope we shall meet again.' - -I did not want to see any one of them again except the theatrical cat, -who was a jolly sort of cheerful beast. I forgot to say there was a -Manx cat there, without a tail; its mother had bitten it off in a -temper when it was young, I suppose. It was an awkward creature, -and the white cat spat at him and told him he wasn't the only cat on -the tiles. He had been making himself very civil to her, but she was a -very unconventional young lady, I was told, and if she liked you she -did, and if she didn't she wouldn't stop in the same room with you, and -thickened all the way down when she was forced to obey. - -[Illustration: I DID NOT WANT TO SEE ANY ONE OF THEM AGAIN.] - -Auntie May shouldered her own two, and said Goodbye. She did not get a -very good hold, and we both of us oozed out under her arm in the square -garden, and she was in a terrible way. We teased her a little bit, but -we saw the poor thing was tired, so came back to her. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - CATAPUK - - -About the spring time, when the grass in the square garden was not so -often wet and the birds made more noise there and the nests were more -plentiful, Auntie May seemed not so very well. - -She always had the hardest knee in the house to sit on, though it was -the nicest knee, and now her fingers grew so thin that the rings began -to drop off them, and then _we_ were accused of having taken them. I -believe it was for this reason that she suddenly began to say that she -must go away. - -'And leave us?' we said, when she told us. - -'I don't think I can make up my mind to leave you, dears,' she said, -just as if she had understood our remarks, which of course she did not. -'Fancy waking up in the morning all alone by myself instead of being -waked by one of you putting your paw in my mouth! I can't picture it. -No, I'll stay here and die.' - -'Nonsense!' her father would say. 'You must live, dear, if not for my -sake, for the sake of the cats. Let us think of something to amuse -you and make you forget your family for a while. Why not go up to see -Beatrice?' - -'No, I don't want to go and stay with Beatrice.' She and Beatrice were -cross with each other just then, I happened to know, and truly Auntie -May's temper was not exactly even nowadays. She had been known to say -that we got on her nerves, and that there were too many of us. We knew -she was out of sorts by that alone. - -'Why not try Folkestone with your Aunt Cecilia?' - -'An old cat!' - -'What about Mrs. Gilmour at Bournemouth?' - -'Another!' It was easy to see she was ill. - -'Then come with me to the Riviera?' - -'That would be lovely, but, dear Daddy, I could not possibly take you -away from your Academy picture.' - -'Then,' said the poor old man in desperation, 'go to America and read -passages from your own works and make a fortune.' - -He was at his wit's end or he would not have proposed anything so -absurd and improper as that. He said no more, but I sometimes saw him -watching her with tears in his eyes. - -When her hair began to come out in handfuls she herself agreed that -something must be done. - -'I think I will go and live in Paris for a bit and study.' - -'But, my dear child, you don't know anybody there.' - -'That's just the point. I shall change the scene completely and get out -of myself.' - -That seems an odd and impossible sort of thing to do, but it isn't the -first time I have heard people speak of performing this feat. Cats -can't, and wouldn't want to, I fancy. - -The old man said he couldn't think of allowing it, and she at once -wrote for rooms to an address she knew. He said it would never do, and -she answered the woman's letter who kept the pension and took the rooms -for a month. - -Then _we_ were the difficulty. She could not think of leaving us to -Mary, who was good but careless, and she thought of a certain place she -had heard of at Gunnersbury where they boarded cats. - -Mother disliked the idea very much, but what could she do? We were all -three put in baskets and taken in a cab. Gunnersbury seemed partly -country when we got out, but I saw very little, for we were hustled -into the house, and our fastenings not undone till we were in a garden -with wire cages or houses in it that they called 'cat-runs.' - -A young lady in a grey voile frock trimmed with blue ribbons was -sweeping one of the wire places out, and she seemed to be no relation -to the mistress of the cattery, just a friend. - -'I am single-handed just now,' the old lady said. 'My daughter, who -helps me, is away, taking King Henry the Eighth to a cat-show, but Miss -Joldwin--_such_ a nice girl, and so well connected!--is good enough to -come here and help me turn out the cages twice a day!' - -I don't see why because Miss Joldwin was a pedigree-woman she should be -too good to sweep out a cattery, but I do think she might have put a -pinafore on, and said so. - -'Dear little fellow, he is very lively and talkative!' said the old -woman to me. 'I know I shall make a pet of you, I shall.' - -'Oh, no favouritism, Mrs. Jennings, please,' said Auntie May. 'I -should like them all to be kept together, if you don't mind, as much -as possible. They are a very united and loving family. Fred, do leave -Zobeide alone! You are nearly murdering her.' - -'Pretty little spirited dears,' murmured the woman, and I hated her. -'Come here! Kittie! Kittie!' - -I wouldn't come here, and I saw that Auntie May was pleased. She soon -after took her leave, whispering to us: - -'Now keep yourselves to yourselves, my dears, and though you must be -civil to other cats, don't make great friends. I shan't be away long; -I feel I shan't be able to stand it. Eat what you are given, and don't -have fancies. Don't climb up the old woman. Be civil to her, but no -more. Now goodbye, pets--angels--darlings--I _must_ tear myself away!' - -She tore herself away, and we were left alone in the wire house with -a sort of box thing inside where we were expected to retire for the -night. It wasn't bad, and the food was excellent. - -I cannot tell the clock, and I never know either what time or what -day of the week it is, so I cannot say how long we were all together -in this cattery. It may have been a month. But one day (I had been -taken into the house, for I was a good cat and allowed to sit on the -dining-room woolly rug) I heard a well-known voice in the hall saying: - -'No, thank you. There is no necessity for me to see it. I leave the -selection of the kitten to you. So long as the animal is ready packed -in a basket and so forth, all ready for my servant to fetch and hand -over to me at Charing Cross, that will do. Thank you, ten-thirty. He -will call here half an hour before. Good morning!' - -It was the voice of Mr. Fox. - -Mother said, 'It sounds as if one of you was going to leave me! This -wretched man seems to have bought a kitten of Auntie May and doesn't -even care which!' - -'Mr. Fox buy a cat!' I cried. 'He simply hates us; he can't bear to be -in the room with one of us. Don't you remember, I told you all about -him at Crook Hall?' - -'I cannot explain it!' said mother. 'Perhaps he is going to give you to -some one? I wish I knew what places one goes to from Charing Cross. But -there is no cat's Bradshaw, alas!' - -I was taken away by a groom--I smelt his clothes through the -basket--next day, as arranged. We got into a noisy place full of -people talking, and I felt myself being transferred to Mr. Fox's hands, -and didn't he take hold of the handle of the basket that contained -me as if it was a hot coal! I wondered why he didn't put me in the -guard's van; but no, he stuck to me and put me down on the seat of the -compartment, just as Auntie May did, and then went as far off me as he -could go, for I could tell the distance by the rustle of the newspaper -he opened, and read fiercely all the way. I learned that we were going -to cross the sea from the conversation of two ladies in the same -compartment. - -'Do you think it is going to be rough, guard? Have you heard what the -sea is like at Dover?' - -'Like a mill pond, ma'am.' - -'Oh, I do hope--' said one. - -'I suffer so always!' said the other. - -'Not worse than me, surely? Nobody could. I shall die in crossing some -day. What is that in the basket? Is it a bird or a cat? I saw a parrot -once crossing. I believe it was sick, or was it only imitating the -dreadful noise people make? I wonder if cats are sick?' - -I wondered too. Not that I mind being sick, as I said before, and I -thought They were making a great deal too much of it. - -I didn't like it, though, when we got to Dover, and Mr. Fox shouldered -me and carried me down a ladder and on to something that wobbled -gently. There was a horrible smell--that was the worst of it--a kind of -salt prick in the air, that I didn't like. Mr. Fox handed me to a man, -saying: - -'Here, take care of this animal for me--you see it is labelled -"Valuable Cat"--and look after it till we get to Calais!' - -'Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who smelt of salt too. - -This sailor planked me down somewhere, and never noticed me till -there was a shouting and a trampling and a hauling and a slowing-down -movement. Then the big thing that breathed in the middle stopped, and -there was no noise except of voices. Quite a nice rest. The sailor came -back and took me up, and put me back into the hands of Mr. Fox, who -gave him something he said 'Thank ye!' for, and who then carried me up -the ladder himself. I wished I could have seen his face. I am sure he -was pale, though perhaps in the strong smell of salt he didn't notice -the smell of me so much, and didn't feel so ill. I don't know, for, as -I say, I never saw his face. - -He never undid me, but sat quite close to me on the rattlingest train -I ever was in, far worse than the boat. The two ladies said so. They -happened to have got into the same carriage as we did, and from their -subdued sort of manner I think they had both been very ill. - -'I wonder how the cat got on?' said one in a very weak voice. - -'I don't know, I'm sure, nor care,' said the other. Then in a lower -voice she said: - -'The man doesn't look very fit; he's green. I expect he has had an -awful time!' - -I wanted to cry out and say, 'You are quite mistaken. That is the -effect of _me_!' but of course I couldn't do anything but scrabble -about a little on the sides of the basket. They seemed to be eating an -enormous luncheon! I had a parcel of fish in with me loosely done up -that I could easily have got at, but I never eat on a journey. I make -up for it afterwards. - -We stopped twice, and people cried out things, but at last we stopped -and did not go on again. - -'_C'est Paris?_' said one of the ladies, and then I knew that she was -half French, and was probably going home. I thought of Auntie May, who -I knew was in Paris, but somehow I was quite surprised to hear her -voice--a very thin and weak little voice--speaking to Mr. Fox on the -platform. - -'Oh, Mr. Fox, I _never_ can thank you enough. And you, of all people, -who hate cats so, to offer to bring me Loki. Tell me, how did you get -on?' - -'Very fairly,' said he. 'I do not choose to let this kind of thing get -hold of me. I'm all right, thanks, and glad to be able to do you this -little service.' - -We all walked along--I was carried of course--till we came to some kind -of barrier, and they wouldn't let Auntie May pass. She had forgotten to -take a platform ticket, it appeared. - -'I shall stay here, then,' said she to Mr. Fox. 'You go through with -this ticket, and I shall see whether these foreigners will have the -cheek to keep me.' I believe she winked. She was so happy at having got -me. She made Mr. Fox obey her, telling him to wait for her on the other -side, and she sat down on a seat and took me on her knee, and kissed me. - -'I shall get well much faster now I have a soft sweet grey cat to -cuddle,' said she. 'I wonder how Mr. Fox knew that? And to offer -_himself_ as a messenger, of all people! I don't believe he had _any_ -business engagement in Paris at all, I believe it is pure philanthropy!' - -Presently an official came and argued with her in French. She was very -sweet to him, on the principle that a soft answer turns away wrath, and -sure enough she worked it, for presently he said sharply, '_Passez, -Mademoiselle!_' which means 'Go on.' - -Mr. Fox had examined his luggage, and was waiting for her on the other -side of the barrier. - -'Oh, why did you wait?' she said. 'I should think now I have Loki with -me you would want to give me a wide berth?' - -'I don't _want_ to,' said he, 'but my unfortunate peculiarity is sure -to assert its sway over me. Let me, at least, put you into a cab.' - -'And shall I not have the pleasure of seeing you while you are in -Paris?' - -'I am afraid I must not venture to come and see you and risk a scene?' -He laughed; he had a nice laugh. 'But will you be very kind, and come -to lunch with me to-morrow at Durand's? I go back at night.' - -'But,' she said, 'I thought you said you had to be in Paris on -business, and that was why you would bring me Loki? That is what Daddy -assured me you said when he told you I was pining for him.' - -'I can get through the business I have to do in the morning before -lunch,' said he, quite shortly, and whisked us into a cab and paid it, -and told the man to drive us to Rue Chauvau La Garde. - -Miss Florence Pettigrew--that was the name of the woman who kept the -_pension_ Auntie May had settled to go to--was a pretty, very little -woman, and reminded me somehow of the Manx cat, she seemed shortened -somewhere, somehow. She opened the door to us and I heard her greeting -Auntie May, and took a dislike to her at once from the basket. I didn't -like her any better when I was taken out. I'm sure she had a wooden leg. - -'Well, so that's the cat. I hope he means to have good manners in -my flat. I don't want my nice new furniture torn to bits, you know, -Graham.' - -That was Auntie May's surname, but I had never heard her called that -before. Auntie May was shown to her room and asked if she would have -hot water, but she sat down on the bed and cried, and cuddled me, and -said, 'Well, Loki, this is life!' - -I thought she didn't like life much just now, when we went in to -dinner. Manxie, as I always called her, kept telling us that she had -had to get fish on purpose for Auntie May, but she couldn't afford it -for herself. No, what she had was three-pennyworth of meat a day for -herself, and that was enough for any woman. I thought she seemed more -like a Manx cat than ever, with her daily allowance of cat's meat, for -she couldn't have got proper people's meat for that price! - -Auntie May gave me some fish, but it was so French and buttery that I -hated it. I tried to eat it, though, for Auntie May's sake, who looked -so pale and ill that I longed to write home to her father about her and -get her fetched home. It was unfortunate that Mr. Fox could not stand -me, or else he would have come to the house and seen Manxie, and after -he had seen her I am sure he wouldn't have approved of Auntie May's -staying where she was so disliked. Why, Manxie even leaned across the -table once, when Auntie May coughed, and said: - -'I am sorry for you, Graham, but I don't like you. I don't like your -eyes!' - -Did anybody ever hear anything like that? The woman was mad, that was -her only excuse. Poor Auntie May was miserable and her eyes were sunk -in and her cheeks hollow, but I don't see that when she was paying -Manxie ten francs a day that she ought to have been abused about her -eyes. Hollow cheeks are better than a hollow leg any day. - -She went out to _déjeuner_ with Mr. Fox next day, telling Manxie about -it, who was very cross with her for not bringing Mr. Fox to the flat. - -'It is just as if you were ashamed of it, Graham,' she said, and Auntie -May didn't contradict her, but shut me up in her room and went. She -came back with some nice asparagus heads for me that she had begged of -the waiter at Durand's. After that she went out no more to luncheon, -and I supposed Mr. Fox had gone back to England. - -Then Auntie May began to get worse and worse, and she coughed so that -she quite lost her voice and could only call me in a whisper. She had -a doctor fetched, to Manxie's great disgust, and he said she had to -put her mouth to the spout of a kettle that had benzoin in it, and she -used to sit for hours with her lips to the spout till Manxie complained -that the steam hurt her ceiling. French rooms are very funny, before -you furnish them yourself; there is a mirror let into the mantelpiece -and a stove in the dining-room. They cook quite differently, too, and -Manxie's cook used to write poetry. She kept the papers in her biggest -stew-pan, and used to read them to Auntie May, who said they were quite -good for a cook and far better than her omelettes. - -Trivia, that was her name, was so grateful that she was always coming -in with cups of _tisane_. - -'_Buvez ça, Madame, je vous assure que cela vous fera du bien!_' and -Auntie May said it did do her good, but as a matter of fact she got -worse and worse, and the doctor said he must get a friend of his to -call on her. She was English. He was English. As Auntie May said, 'I -come to Paris to change my ideas, and I have an English land-lady, an -English doctor, and now I am to have an English friend. Funny how we -English herd together!' - -I may say that I mixed with the French more than Auntie May did. I had -a French friend; her name was Mistigris. She belonged to M. Ducrot, -the concierge. To call on her I had to seize my opportunity and sneak -downstairs when the _bonne_ went out to do her shopping and Auntie May -was still in bed. Mistigris was generally lying on the silk eiderdown -that covers Monsieur and Madame Ducrot's bed. Their bed takes up half -their room, and it isn't very big either. It is close to the door. -Madame Ducrot cooks every meal there. They only have the one room and -the coal-cellar under the stairs. Their door gives on to the stairs -and has a glass window in it, so that they can see whoever goes past. -They are a curious race, are concierges, whose business it is to find -out things and take tips. At night, when they are in bed, of course the -door is fastened, but M. Ducrot has a bell that rings by the bed head, -and he has to wake up, if he isn't already awake, and pull a button -to open the door. The person at the door going out also has to say, -'_Cordon, s'il vous plait!_' All this Mistigris told me. She was very -Anglophobe, meaning she hated the English at first, but I convinced her -that we were really _des braves gens_--that means a good sort. At first -she used to call out 'Angliche!' and 'Poos! Poos!' at me, very rudely, -and even sometimes, 'Aha, Rosbif!' but she soon improved. Besides, they -don't say 'Puss! Puss!' to their cats here, but Minet or Minette, so -perhaps she was only trying to emulate the English accent. Of course -I don't know French any more than Mistigris knows English, but our -common language, 'Catapuk,' is known all over the world, so there was -no difficulty about our intercourse. - -Madame Ducrot did not like my friendship with Mistigris at first, for -fear I should run away with her, but I am a born bachelor, and people -soon see that there is no fear of my carrying any cat off. Mistigris -was pretty, rather prettier than the white cat at the party, but it -made no difference to me, we were very good friends and that was all. - -Mistigris used to lie in wait for me in the shadow of the bed-curtain -sitting on her warm nest in the eiderdown. Talk of French politeness; -she never once invited me to come up! And if I happened to get down to -see her about meal times when she sat on the table between Monsieur -and Madame Ducrot, as they drank their soup and ate their salad, she -frowned at me through the glass door and pretended not to know me. I -didn't want any cabbage soup, either, their cookery is far too greasy -for me. But when she was not so pleasantly engaged and the door of -the room was open, she used to come to me and thread herself in and -out through the balusters as a sign of friendliness. I never saw her -after seven o'clock. They turn all lights out on the stairs here -after eight, and I used to sit indoors on the cold wood floor in the -evenings and listen for Auntie May to come in. Manxie fed her so badly -that in disgust she used to go out and get her dinner at a restaurant. -She used to come up, bumping herself in the dark, and fumble for the -door-key under the mat, where Manxie, who went to bed at nine to save -lights, had left it. There was a jam-pot on a bracket in the hall full -of oil and a wick floating in it. It was the cheapest possible way of -lighting, so Manxie said. Then Auntie May used to grope for her sealed -bottle of milk on the table, and light one of those beastly French -matches that smell and sputter, and read her letters if there were any, -and then go to bed. - -[Illustration: MISTIGRIS USED TO LIE IN WAIT FOR ME.] - -I used to help her to undress, playing with her strings and stay-laces, -and anything in the least taggy, and placing her slippers in different -ends of the room ready for her to find in the morning. Then when she -was in bed, I used to take a header off the high bureau and light on -her. She kissed my head for about five minutes and I purred, and then -having said good-night to her properly so, I lay down on the lower part -of the bed, for I was getting such a big cat that my weight was too -much for her shoulder where I used to like to lie. She put out her hand -and stroked me sometimes in the middle of the night; she liked to feel -I was there. If she was too sleepy to wake up, I generally crept up and -just touched the tip of her nose and so back again without waking her. -I didn't attempt to prise her eyelids open, as Fred did once when he -had the privilege of sleeping with her. He never had it again. Auntie -May values her eyes above anything, and she said it was too dangerous. -I never woke her in the morning, for I thought she wanted all the sleep -she could get. Manxie used to come and look at her sometimes when she -was asleep, and pry into her drawers. I always kept one eye on her, and -she knew it. The funny thing is it frightened her, though, of course, -she knew that I could not tell tales of her. - -At last poor Auntie May stayed in bed altogether, and the doctor -brought his friend Mrs. Jay. - -She was a nice woman and I adored her, although she played a funny -little trick on me. She used to take me up when she came in, and I used -to mew. - -'It is an odd thing,' Auntie May said to her, after Mrs. Jay had been -to see her two or three times and they were great friends, 'that you -love cats so much and yet they mew when you hold them!' - -'Isn't it odd?' said Mrs. Jay, smiling. She had a very pretty voice. 'I -cannot suggest any explanation.' - -_I_ could have explained it. Mrs. Jay bit my neck every time, not hard -or cruelly, but just so that I could not help crying out. - -She was not a naturally unkind woman, but she had a mania for -experimenting on people by teasing them as well as being good to them. -She saved Auntie May's life, I think. - -She came one day and said very decidedly: - -'Now, Miss May Graham, I am going to take you away from here, bag and -baggage, cat and cattage. That dreadful Pettigrew--' - -'Poor Pettigrew!' said Auntie May in a thin little voice. - -'Poor Pettigrew indeed! She is simply starving you, that is what she is -doing, and taking ten francs a day for it! I am not going to leave you -here a day longer, if I take you away in an ambulance!' - -There was no need for Auntie May to go in an ambulance. She paid -Manxie, who was in a towering rage, a month's pay in lieu of notice, -Mrs. Jay packed up her belongings, my old basket was brought out again, -and we were settled in the Rue de L'Echelle by the evening. I never saw -Mistigris again. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - 'POOSH!' - - -They had the slipperiest floors in the Rue de L'Echelle, made of pieces -of wood joined together and then polished till the nap was like silk. -Léocadie, the _bonne_, did it with cloths wrapped about her feet, and -she looked too funny and chaseable skating up and down the floors. -Sometimes Philippe, Mr. Jay's servant, did it, and he plodged, that was -the difference. Léocadie ordered him about like a slave, and he obeyed -her, but he chaffed her. She was rather a little slop in her morning -blouse and her checked apron and her black frizzly hair, and when she -gave him an order he would answer gravely, '_Bien, Princesse!_' which -sent Mr. Jay into fits of laughter. Léocadie was very kind to me. She -was always holding out some little odd-and-end for me to eat, saying, -'_Tiens, Minet?_' while I liked lying on Philippe's coat, that he took -off when he worked, better than anything. - -Then in the warm May days that were coming on, I used to lie in the -balcony and look through the iron lace-work and put my paw out, -and shake it about in the air. I could look down, too, and see the -wheelbarrows with bright flowers on them, and the bare-headed women -with lovely hair, and the tinkling cabs, and the drivers with their -grey beaver hats. - -Auntie May got a great deal better, well enough to go into -society--French society. Mrs. Jay sometimes went with her, but not -always, and one night--a night that will long live in my memory--Auntie -May went to Madame Taine's literary party all alone. - -At nine o'clock she came out of her room in her new evening cloak, and -in a lovely pink dress all sequins and beads, and went down the stairs -of the flat. I slipped out too, and went down on the train of her dress -most of the way. She ought to have held it up, of course. She got -into the cab the concierge had fetched, and having said goodbye to me -upstairs, thought no more about me, and I was left sitting alone on the -kerb. - -The gutter was dirty, full of vegetables and things thrown away, -and even when they did tidy up, they only pushed the refuse under a -grating. The dirty towel the men used to stop up the hole in the sewer -with was lying near by--a stupid way of arranging it, I thought. The -noise in the street was terrific. It was the first time I had stood -there alone. The tinkly horse bells got on my nerves--horses all wear -collars in Paris. One wonders they don't spoil their ruffs. Auntie May -won't let any of her cats wear them, though for some reasons it would -be most convenient, for one would always know where the cat was at a -given moment. I longed to get in again, but the great big doors were -shut. So sooner than sit still doing nothing, I moved a little way -farther down the street, and gradually got on to what I imagined from -descriptions must be the Big Boulevard. It was a great danger, but -luckily it was dark. At the crossing there was a policeman with a stick -that he tried to keep cabs back with as they do in London, so mother -has told me, but the horses here just pushed it back rudely with their -noses, and went on and nearly ran over people. - -I got across, and on the other side there were numbers of places -where They eat, and many people sitting outside at little tables -munching peanuts and drinking coffee out of glasses. They dropped -pieces of sugar into them and gave them to their children, who all -seemed to have leave to sit up and be out of doors in the night time. -Rosamond and her sisters go to bed at eight, but then they are English -children. Every moment I thought something was happening, people made -such a noise. Every now and then men ran down the street calling out -in dreadful fear; their harsh screams of terror frightened me, but -I soon discovered, by an old gentleman near me giving one man a sou -and quieting him, that these scraggy poor men were only selling their -papers. In the middle of the road the stream of carriages and cabs -rolled--rolled by till my poor head turned, and I didn't know when I -should ever cross that river of carriages and get home. I knew, having -crossed the street once, that I was bound to cross it again to get -back, but there was not a cat in the whole region from whom I could ask -the way. - -I felt so lonely that I could have mewed aloud, but if I had that would -have called attention to me, and I should have been arrested by one of -the men in blue who held the _bâton_ and minded the crossing. I rubbed -myself against an old gentleman who was taking absinthe at the little -table near which I had placed myself. He looked down and only said, -'_Tiens, un chat! Rentre, mon vieux_,' which translated means, 'Hold, -a cat! Go home, old man!' which was precisely what I wanted to do, if -only he would have put me safely over the crossing. He probably thought -I belonged to the restaurant near where I was lurking. - -At last the stream of carriages seemed to thin a little, and I took my -courage between my teeth and made a wild dash to get across. - -I did it. The garçon called out, '_Holà! Hé!_' and some other strange -expressions of surprise, but I never minded. Keeping a stiff whisker, -although I was mortally afraid, I walked down the long street that led -southwards to my home in Rue de L'Echelle. - -I knew the house by a piece of orange-peel lying in a particular place -near the door that I had noticed when Auntie May had started three -hours ago, and also by its own peculiar smell. - -Every house has its special smell, over and above all the town smell, -you know. The smell of Paris is quite different from the smell of -London. It is a kind of fried-potatoes-and-garlic smell mixed together -on a hot stove-dried air--nothing solid about it, somehow. Auntie May -says it is like sweet champagne, and just as heady. - -I had plenty of time to think what the air of Paris was like, for the -door stayed shut, and I stayed in the street with every prospect of -doing it till morning. I could not ring the bell and say, '_Cordon, -s'il vous plait_.' Then a thought struck me. Had Auntie May come -in yet? How could I tell? I looked about to see if she had dropped -anything--a pin, a flower, a hair-pin? - -Nothing! Now, Auntie May was just the kind of person to drop something, -and I began to hope that she had not come in yet. I waited. I could -sneak in with her if I was mean, or make a clean breast of it and show -myself. I didn't know which I would do. It depended on the sort of -temper she was in. I can generally smell that. - -After about an hour I heard a cab come down the street, going very -quickly. Auntie May got out and paid the man and sent him away. Then -she rang, very loudly and impatiently. I was sitting quietly beside -her, meaning her to see me. I had decided to do it that way, but I said -nothing. She noticed me at once, and spoke to me seriously: - -'Oh, Loki, you villain, you darling, you naughty little cat! How -come you to be out? Mercy, when I think of what might have happened! -A valuable cat, alone in Paris at midnight! I hope at least you have -not been very far away from this door. This is a quiet sort of street, -thank goodness. Quick! Say! Set my mind at rest!' - -She shook me gently and I said, 'No,' but of course she only thought I -mewed. - -'Your sweet little mew quite disarms me. Oh, but you _have_ given me a -fright--an awful fright!' - -I asked her if she had enjoyed herself? - -'Why a fright, do you say? Anybody might have run off with you and -made a boa of you. They wouldn't have made mincemeat, however, for you -are a valuable cat, and they could see that at a glance, though you -are English. They would have sold you into slavery. Well, people are -honester than I thought! But perhaps nobody has passed this way? _Dis, -mon chou!_' She had got so French that she called me a cabbage. - -She squeezed me again, and I tried to remind her that nobody had -answered that bell, and that her cloak was open, and it wasn't even a -piece of whole fur, for it missed her neck out. - -'Yes, you may well mew, for you are a really naughty little cat, and -have wrung your poor mistress's heart. Why don't they open that door? -How long have we been standing here? Come under my cloak.' - -'I wish you would fasten it,' I said. - -'You are very conversational, Loki, to-night. I begin to think you have -had adventures. I'll ring again. Conf--bother that concierge! Lazy -creature! I'll ring the house down if he doesn't come soon. Well, well, -we must possess our little souls in patience, Loki, you and I. Isn't it -funny, standing out here in a strange town all alone at twelve o'clock -at night, Loki? Awfully queer, and such a queer party I have been to. -We drank punch in long glasses, and ate plum-cake and spoiled our -gloves. When _will_ this man answer the bell and open the door?' - -She rang again. We both listened. - -'I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,' she said. 'I -am beginning to get cross. Perhaps we can get the concierge dismissed -to-morrow. Yes, we'll do that, anyhow.' - -[Illustration: 'I BELIEVE WE SHALL HAVE TO MAKE UP A BED ON THE -STONES,' SHE SAID.] - -There was a man coming down the street in a rough black frieze cape -and a black tie, whose ends floated out in the breeze. If ever I saw -a Frenchman he was one, young too. Yet as he went by he said, very -clearly and distinctly in English: - -'Poosh!' - -And Auntie May did push, hard. That was it. The door was open all the -time! - -I believe the concierge had opened it when we first rang and gone to -sleep again. But all I can say is we heard no click, and that is what -Auntie May said to Mrs. Jay next morning. - -'I didn't think that literary parties could be so exciting!' said Mrs. -Jay. - -Next morning a whole heap of letters came by the post. Auntie May -read bits of them aloud to Mrs. Jay, and I heard them between my -mouthfuls of bread and milk. There was one from Beatrice saying that -she supposed Auntie May wasn't going to stay in Paris much longer, it -must be getting so hot; she supposed she wouldn't mind a few little -commissions, and out came a list as long as Auntie May's arm. - -There was one from Mr. Fox, which I managed to get hold of and trailed -all over the room, pretending it was a mouse, and paying it back for -Mr. Fox's treatment of me. I like to be loved. - -There was a long letter from Mrs. Dillon in South Africa about Admiral -Togo. - - 'I sometimes think he is turning into a baby,' she wrote. 'He really - is almost human, and expresses his every wish so unmistakably that - I am convinced he will actually talk some day. He is very well. His - fur comes off, but the "vet" says that is inevitable here, and that - it will come on again. He is a shocking bad sailor and hated the - sea. Nothing would induce him to look at it through a porthole - unless I held him in my arm and talked all the time to him. Then he - got a little, nervously, interested. My maid bought a wicker - basket-chair for him at Madeira, and he sat on it on deck, never - making the slightest attempt to leave it. Below he had only one - pleasure, a canary. Up to the very last he hoped that it would come - into his mouth. He felt the heat of the tropics very much, and - complained in a feeble way of being forced to travel in his - chinchilla coat and cuffs. I showed him how to lie on the floor - with his head on a book for coolness, so all the hot time he - insisted on my making this arrangement for him; he could not - somehow or other get it right for himself. - - 'Here at Rondebosch he is getting a little old-fashioned, having no - other cats to play with except me and my maid. He goes walks with - me, padding along on his short fat legs, with his tongue hanging - out of his mouth till he is tired, when he lies down on his back - and cries till I go and pick him up, and then have to carry him the - rest of the way. I want my maid to buy him a "pram."' - -I can't remember any more. Auntie May nearly cried with pleasure at -getting this long letter from Mrs. Dillon. I wished Auntie May would -take _me_ walks. She never seemed to think of it, and I got into the -habit of taking them for myself--on the roof. - -This was stopped. - -'May,' said Mrs. Jay, 'when I came in to-day I heard a mew, and your -cat welcomed me into my own house from the roof, craning his silly -little neck over the gutter, like the devils of Notre Dame. Do you -think it safe? He isn't attached behind, like the gargoyles, you know.' - -'Not at all safe,' said Auntie May, and, together with the hotness, -this was one of the reasons for her deciding to go home. - -About a fortnight after this my basket was brought out and filled with -little bits of paper. I knew what this meant. I was not, however, put -into it till the very last minute, two days later. - -'Now, you travelled little cat,' said Auntie May, 'go into your -"_sleeping_" and don't wail and distress me. It will soon be over, and -you will see your mother again.' - -I knew exactly how soon it would be over; it would last just as long as -it had lasted to come here, and that was a whole day. I said nothing, -and then began the goodbyes, which were just as distressing as my -mewing would have been. - -It is curious, but They do seem to have a way of caring for each other -far more than we do. Mrs. Jay and Auntie May knew each other no better -than I and Mistigris, and I never even troubled to say goodbye to her, -yet she was a nice little cat. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - THE BLACK COMMON CAT - - -We trained along, and it was very hot, and then we got into that weary -old boat again, as I could tell by the fishy smell. I was put down by -Auntie May's side in the cabin, and as soon as she had settled down a -man came up to her and told her that she had a dog with her, and then -when she denied it he said quite sharply: - -'_Ouvrez!_' which means 'Open' without 'please.' - -I drew myself up to my full height, and when the lid of the basket was -lifted up was discovered in a sitting posture. I gave the insolent -fellow A Look and lay down again to express my thorough contempt of him. - -Bless me, there was a parrot in a cage, done up in an old red flannel -petticoat in the most degrading way, that I heard them paying -eighteen-pence for! - -It was about five o'clock when we arrived, and took a cab to go home. -I was undone in the hall of No. 100 Egerton Gardens. I then jumped out -gracefully and quietly, and stood, a little dazed, to tell the truth. -Auntie May, having paid the cab, left the servants to get out the -luggage, and taking me in her arms went straight to the studio. I knew -she wanted badly to go and see mother and Fred, but restrained herself. - -'Fathers before cats!' she said. 'What would Dad think if I did not go -and dig him out first?' - -On opening the studio door she gave a terrible jump, and dropped me. -Mr. Graham was there all right, painting away with his back to her -and his palette on his thumb; but what made her jump was the sight of -mother sitting on the funny little bit of a chair which was all he -would allow himself to sit on when he was tired, and Fred and Zobeide -wallowing composedly in the wastepaper basket--Fred larger and more -impudent than ever. - -Worse than this, there was a large black cat with a white star on its -breast, mumbling a fish's head in the middle of the floor, that didn't -even have the grace to leave off when we came in. - -'Oh, my dear, darling Dad!' cried Auntie May, rushing to him. 'How glad -I am to see you; and how are you, and why do I find you all--_silted_ -up with cats like this?' - -Mr. Graham put down his palette and his mahl-stick, and Zobeide ran off -with the latter, and Fred jumped on to the former, and he kissed Auntie -May again and again, and answered her question rather slowly. - -'Well, you see, my dear, you were a long time away, and Pet and Zobeide -and Freddy--you were always so fond of them--I thought I could look -after them all better if I kept them constantly under my eye. They are -not the rose, but they were near it--and I was a bit lonely.' - -'And so you had my menagerie in to remind you of me! Dear darling Dad, -you couldn't have paid me a better compliment. But then, father, who is -the black gentleman?' - -'He is _my_ cat!' said the old gentleman gravely, 'and you will please -to love him for my sake. He is another story. One dark night I took him -in--or rather he took _me_ in, for he stayed here a week without my -knowing it. He drank Pet's milk and ate my more easily digested paints, -and never had the decency to get Pet to present him to me, though he -was enjoying my hospitality. He is not well-favoured, as you see, but -an interesting beast--an adventurer, I fear. The other cats barely -tolerate him!' - -I should think not indeed! I had my tail twice as thick as usual -already, and the black cat was staring hard at me, wishing he dared -stiffen his too, but hardly sure enough of his position yet, in spite -of Mr. Graham's friendly speech, to do so. The black cat then spoke to -me personally: - -'Now don't you be unkind, you new cat!' (My tail got stiffer, and -I vowed I would never go from home again and leave a place for -interlopers!) 'Your gracious lady mother and worthy brother have -accepted me, and so why should not you? I only get cat's meat; the cook -says it is good enough for me as I am not a thoroughbred, so I don't -see why you should object to my presence here. I have shown the others -that I am not prepared to be an annoyance. I never play with their -rattley ball, or put my nose into their saucers of milk or what not, or -sit in their places, as soon as I find out which they are.' - -'That is quite true, Loki,' said mother. 'He is not at all pushing, and -he is fairly good company. Fancy! He knows what it is to starve. It is -as good as a story to listen to him. Such weird tales! I can hardly -bring myself to believe them, but then mine has been such a sheltered -life!' - -'What can any one as pretty as you, ma'am,' said the black cat (and -then I saw how he had got round mother), 'know of the wickedness of the -world and the cruelty of men? I am an example of that cruelty. I will -tell you how--' - -Fred interrupted him. - -'He really isn't bad fun, Loki. He does to chase, and when he is caught -hasn't the least objection to our biting his tail. It is rather nice to -have a plain tail you needn't take care of, isn't it?' - -'Oh, if you find him useful,' I said, 'I have nothing more to say.' - -All this time May and her father were licking each other. He was -pleased to see _her_ back. _My_ mother seemed to have forgotten _me_! -She met me merely with politeness, as she might a stranger. It had -all fallen out exactly as she had predicted. I was nothing to her -now--nothing special, I mean. Later on in the day she gave me a bat -with her paw, the first of many. I soon got used to it, and hit back. - -Mr. Graham told Auntie May that Mr. Fox had been three times to ask -after her. I don't think from the way he spoke that Mr. Fox had told -him about his visit to Paris, for he seemed to be under the impression -that I had been sent on to her from the cattery at Kew by parcels -delivery, and, as far as I know, May did not undeceive him. Mr. Fox -had gone up to Shortleas, his shooting near Beatrice's house, and Mr. -Graham said he was quite rich. - -Auntie May said, 'How do you know that, Daddy?' - -'Because he told me so, my dear.' - -All Auntie May said was, 'Oh!' but as she went out of the room she -added, 'It is a pity he hates cats so, isn't it?' - -The black cat's name was Charlie, but Auntie May never knew that, and -she christened him Blackavice, because he had a black face. He was a -really comfortable old thing, and the night after I came back we all -listened to him, sitting on different high things in the room. We cats -never like to be crowded up together unless we are sleeping, and then -we prefer it because of the warmth. - -He was only nine, and he had had a strange and varied life. He told us -all in snippets, some things one evening and some another, and some -things twice over. We never minded that, but listened to his yarns with -the greatest attention. We liked him fairly well, but not well enough -to lick him. One never knew where he had been, and there is a dustbin -full of potato peelings and other things to every house in the square. - -He had lived once, he said, in a family in London where the master kept -him to catch mice, and the cook to put thefts on. He never knew what he -hadn't done. When he saw a joint or a fish come in, handed over at the -backdoor by the fishmonger or the butcher's boy, he used to say sadly -to himself, 'Now, shall I be supposed to steal that?' And generally -the cook's mother came in the afternoon of that day, and, sure enough, -she got one of those soles or the end of that joint, and the mistress -was told next morning, 'Ma'am, that awful Charlie again!' He tried to -manage to be out of the way while the mistress was ordering dinner, -because after saying this sort of thing the cook used to look round for -him and broom him out to show how cross she was with him, and how she -abhorred his crime. It was a most insecure life. Then once or twice he -said he thought that he might as well have the good of the fish or meat -he was accused of stealing, and he really did take it; but the cook was -too sharp for him, and gave him a whipping for stealing the portion of -her poor old mother. That didn't pay, and only was the means of his -getting two whippings instead of one. - -The cook hardly fed him at all, but expected him to cater for himself -out of the mice that were living behind the boards, and who came out -at night and played about. The supply of mice varied very much, and he -said that, when mice were plentiful, he used to let them go so as to -save them for another dinner later on; then if mice were scarce he got -so weak he couldn't catch them. He often thought it wasn't good enough, -and that he would like to make a change. He visited every house in the -square in which he lived, in turn, hoping that they would see fit to -keep him, as he was a black cat, and a black cat taking up its abode -with you is accounted lucky. But no, they all broomed him out, and one -tall cook hot-watered him out, and that hurt. So he stayed on with -Mrs. Murch and was bullied all the time, and had no pleasure in life, -except on warm sunny days sitting in the square garden pretending that -there was no necessity to fag after birds. He used to envy the cats who -didn't have need to pretend, but were so well fed that all they need do -was to look lazily after the birds flying past, and gibber at them, or -cats like us who are positively forbidden to go after birds because it -is cruel. The first time the family went away for the summer and left -him, he couldn't make head or tail of it, he said. But other cats told -him he might think himself lucky They had not locked him in, the way -They do sometimes, and then the policeman has to get them out if he -is kind and has a mind to. Charlie had the run of the garden and the -birds, but he missed the 'drain' of milk the cook gave him when she was -in a good humour, and he soon got so weak and flabby that he could not -catch a bird, and they used to sit in the branches and mock at him--the -sparrows, that is. - -He made up his mind that he would not go through with it another year, -and about July he began to make love to the cook's mother, taking her -a mackerel or so that he had stolen on purpose for her and laying it -at her feet. The cook's mother was pleased with him, and, as he had -calculated, offered to borrow him for a month and see what he could do -with the rats down at her place, down at Limehouse Pier, or something -like that, and he said we would hardly believe it, but he got far more -to eat while he was there than at home. The poor are much more lavish -than the rich, and live so much better. And he saw life! 'My word!' -he would say, licking his whiskers, which were fine and large, and -his only beauty. He said they were of immense use to him in showing -what sized gaps he could get through, for if his whiskers were at all -incommoded, he at once knew that the hole or gap was too small for the -thickest part of him. Such tight places he had been in. He would lift -up his head and yawn and say: - -'The things I have seen, ma'am, you would not believe!' - -Then mother would kindly ask him to spare our youth, and not tell us -all the dreadful things that he had seen and heard in the slums, for it -would not have been nice. He might tell her when they were alone, but -as they seldom were alone I don't think he ever got the chance, though -he was dying to shock her, because she was so shockable. - -And then the old woman died, and a rent-collecting lady, who had been -kind to her when she couldn't pay her rent and paid it for her herself, -took Charlie away with her when all the sticks were sold--there was -only a table and a chair, as far as I can remember, when she had -pawned everything--and gave him to a little boy who was her nephew. It -happened to be a little boy in Egerton Gardens where we lived. Funny, -how small the world is! That boy was rough and played experiments with -him, and catapulted him, and tied things to him, and harnessed him, and -put him to bed in his sister's doll's nightgowns in the day-time. That -was disagreeable, Charlie said, but he never bit him, and he was glad -afterwards, for the little boy got ill. - -[Illustration: THAT BOY WAS ROUGH AND PLAYED EXPERIMENTS WITH HIM.] - -He was put to bed, and he came out all in red spots, and he simply -yelled for his black cat. The nurse took Charlie up and put him on the -bed, and the little boy grabbed him and held him very uncomfortably for -a long time till he got tired. He was a very clever little boy, and -when his mother said to him, 'But, Teddy, you will give the poor cat -your measles,' he answered, 'He can be _defected_ same as me, can't he?' - -'They don't disinfect _you_, my boy, only your clothes,' the mother -said. 'And that is so that your clothes may not give it to any one -else.' - -'Then can Charlie carry a measle away on his fur?' the little boy -asked, very much frightened, and began to cry because he supposed that -Charlie ought to be taken away from him. They were much upset at the -idea, and the nurse said in a low voice: - -'We can arrange all that, ma'am; don't thwart him, whatever you do!' -And so Charlie was left, but from that moment he had an uncomfortable -feeling that the nurse meant to kill him when he had done his work of -amusing Teddy. So when Teddy was going to get better he watched to see -the sick-room door open, and ran away and came in here. - -That was the first time mother had heard of the reasons that had -induced him to leave his home, and she was very serious. - -'I don't believe that _we_ are liable to measles,' she said -thoughtfully. 'But you may give it to Auntie May.' - -'She never takes me on her lap,' said the black cat sadly. 'I ought not -to repine, for it is safer for her, and she is a nice lady. I hunger -for a word of affection sometimes, though.' - -'The question is, not your need of affection,' said mother severely, -'but the danger of Auntie May's getting measles. As your fur--excuse -me--is not very long, perhaps you cannot carry infection like, for -instance, Freddy here. We won't worry.' - -I looked every day after that to see if Auntie May was coming out in -red spots like little Teddy, but there was not a single measle that I -could see. It was, however, a nasty scare, and mother said Charlie -was little better than an adventurer, and ought not to have come in -like that without any references at all. - -He was a battered old thing, too; very shabby and ailing, and seemed -to have been very much knocked about in general. The skin of both his -ears showed bare and furless where another cat had taken hold of him. -His long mean tail was broken off sharp at the end, where it had been -caught in a trap, out hunting for rabbits on the sly. And he had had an -awful adventure once in France, where he had been taken by some English -people and left on the farm which they hired for the summer. There some -French child had had the bright idea of putting him on a smart collar -of twisted rushes plaited up into a string. The child made it a little -too big, not big enough for him to be able to get it off, but big -enough for him to get his paw through and nearly his whole front-leg. -He said he thought himself very clever to do this, but he bitterly -regretted it, for he could not get the leg back and had to walk on -three. Nobody on the French farm noticed it, and as it was they never -fed him. French people never do feed dogs hardly, and cats never. They -are not nice to animals. He says he never saw a dog or cat properly -covered with flesh the whole time he was there; they were all wretched -scrags. Well, the trouble with poor Charlie was that he couldn't catch -any mice or birds to speak of, and he was nearly starving. He thought -that he grew rather light-headed, for one day, in his extreme misery, -he ran away into the woods and made up his mind to die. The place where -his leg was pressing on his neck got sore--the collar rubbed it, I -suppose--and he couldn't reach up to lick it, and so the paw got stuck -to his body and began to fester, and caused him great pain. - -After about a week of starvation he happened to see a lady bathing -in the river, who, when she had come out and dried herself, pulled a -little bread and meat out of a napkin, and ate something and drank -something on the edge of the stream. He went up to her, and she noticed -him and called him, but he was too wild and shy to dare to go near her. -He was ashamed of himself and the figure he cut. - -However, she left half her luncheon and rolled it out on the grass for -him, and he came down from a sort of perch he had in a tree and ate it. - -Next day the lady came and bathed again, and again he did not dare to -go near her, although she again left the remains of her luncheon for -him. This went on for about a week. She at last brought another lady -with her, and the other lady said she was sure that there was something -wrong with that black cat, if only he would come near enough for them -to see. She hinted that perhaps if she could find out the damage she -might be able to do something for him. He heard, still he dared not go -near them, for he had a stupid notion that if they once got hold of him -they might tie up his other leg. You see, since a mere child had done -such a cruel thing to him he distrusted everybody. The other lady said -nothing, but one day when he had ventured a little nearer to her than -usual, she was very quick and threw a large napkin all over him. He got -all mixed up in it, not being as nimble as he would have liked to be, -with his arm tied up, and thus he found himself a prisoner. - -And glad he was that he had fallen into her hands, although, indeed, -at first, he gave himself up for lost. The lady had a pair of scissors -hanging to her girdle, and she held him firmly by the scruff of the -neck while her companion gripped him by the hind legs to prevent his -scratching her, which in his excitement and nervousness he would have -been sure to do, and the band of rushes was cut and thrown aside. Then -he said their exclamations completely reassured him and he ceased to -struggle. - -'Oh, poor creature! His paw has grown right on to his neck! What an -awful sore! I can hardly bear to look at it!' - -They _did_ look at it, however, and washed it with fresh water from the -stream, and cut all the matted bobbedy hair away from the part; still -he could not put his paw to the ground. He was quite good and patient, -and he tried to show gratitude in his eyes. - -'He is a rare ugly beast!' one of them said. 'I feel like St. Vincent -de Paul! Do you think he would go in the luncheon basket, and could we -make him a bed of rushes and grass in it and take him home?' - -The other one objected, but only faintly, and the long and the short -of it was they carried him home to the house which they rented on a -farm, and looked after him most kindly, washing his sore with warm -water every day, and smearing it with nice clean ointment. That was -not all. They took him to England and put him in a cat's home, paying -eighteen-pence a week for him. From there some one bought him--the -mistress of Mrs. Murch. That brings him down to the time when we first -knew him; and indeed, when I think of the good stories he had to tell, -I am sorry he ever left us. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - THE BLACK CAT BRINGS MEASLES - - -A week after that Auntie May did not come down to breakfast, and Mary -looked fussy and important as if something had happened, and a certain -great carriage came and stood at our door, which mother said was a -doctor's carriage. We heard Mary and the cook talking about it. - -'It's measles, sure enough,' said Mary. 'Mrs. Curtis's little boy, -t'other side of the square, died of it last week. It is all over. You -and me'll go next, cook, sure as eggs is eggs.' - -'Eggs is often egg powder,' said the cook severely. 'You just sit still -and don't go to meet misfortune half-way. More work and less talk, I -say.' - -We told the black cat that he was little better than a murderer, -bringing measles in and giving them to our dear Auntie May, and we made -him so uncomfortable that he left. I don't suppose he would starve -or anything, for he had collected enough strength with us to last him -through the winter, and make him fit to catch as many birds as he could -eat. Besides, I don't think he was going to live long anyhow. To my -certain knowledge he had licked up a whole tube of madder-lake, and -swallowed the cork of a bottle of quick-drying copal. - -Mary was not a good cat-maid, though she had acquired what Auntie May -called the cat-tread. She had learned to walk carefully, shovelling her -feet along the floor so as to avoid treading on kittens. Of course, now -that we were older, we oozed away ourselves, and were too proud to call -out if a paw got caught, or so on. - -Then an awful thing happened, and while Auntie May was ill too. Perhaps -if Auntie May hadn't been ill it would never have happened. Zobeide -went and lost herself. - -We all went out now and then, though it wasn't approved of unless -Auntie May took us herself, and that was all right; it was going alone -that was wrong. Whenever we were missed there was a fine hue and cry, -and Auntie May used to run out without her boots, or her hat, or her -jacket, and hunt the garden. When she had done this in vain, she used -to go out in the street and walk all round the fronts of the houses to -see if she could see a bit of grey cat sticking out anywhere. She got -_me_ that way once. I was sitting on the outside wall looking inwards -and my tail hung down into the street. She came along and took hold, -and wow! but I had to come down backwards along with it! I felt as if -it were being pulled out by the roots, and that all resistance was vain -and painful as well. So I was amenable to persuasion, if you can call -anything so rough as that persuasion. - -There was no Auntie May to fetch Zobeide in. She wasn't even told lest -it sent up her temperature. Besides, I fancied some one had stolen -Zobeide, and I remembered that Auntie May once said that one merit of -having valuable cats was that if they got lost or were stolen it wasn't -to do them harm; that the thief would cherish every hair of the coat of -a Blue Persian, and that it was only a question of change of residence -and missing the departed, without the agony of imagining all sorts of -horrid fates that might have befallen them. She said she could never -sleep at night if she had to think of the possibility of our coming -upon the streets and being carried off to be vivisected. Perhaps poor -Charlie got vivisected! Oh dear! - -Mother and I and Fred did not break our hearts or care half so much -about Zobeide as poor Mr. Graham did. He took an immense lot of -trouble, and went to the police station about her, and when he came -home he wrote on a great piece of paper, in copy-book hand: - - LOST - - Valuable Persian Cat - On the Thirty-first instant from - No. 100 Egerton Gardens. - Whoever will bring the same back to owner will receive - the sum of Five Pounds. - -This he had printed, and mother says she heard that a copy was stuck in -the window of every shop in the district. Of course that curious Mary -had to go out and spy them all out and come home and tell cook. - -We were a great deal in the kitchen at this period, and liked it in -a way. It was warmer than anywhere else in the house, and there were -plenty of odd things good to eat, though Auntie May strictly forbade -Mary or cook to feed us between meals. Our meals were always arranged -beforehand. For instance, Fred could not eat fish--it always made him -sick. He also liked a thing better if he had stolen it. When he was -ill and wouldn't eat his bread and milk they put it on the china-table -to tempt him, and it did. He would eat all quickly, thinking he would -get shooed off every other minute. Mother could not bear lentils; she -had never been brought up to them, she said. Now I loved them, also -cod-liver-oil biscuits. None of us could stand salt meat or veal, but -game, of course, was heaven. We had different ways with the bones. I -like to split mine up and get the juice that is inside the bone out -and suck it. Mother thought it would hurt our teeth, and she only -picked hers. As she was getting a little old, she had raw meat twice a -week to strengthen her, and in the winter Auntie May always gave her -cod-liver-oil. What she really liked best was burnt currants out of a -cake. She used to sit at Auntie May's elbow and pick them out of her -mouth. I have a weakness for anchovy sandwiches, and Auntie May always -gratifies it. - -So you see we are rather a nuisance with our various likes and -dislikes; but I am bound to say cook and Mary were very good while -Auntie May's illness lasted, and did not alter the menu in the least. -The measles lasted an age. I cannot count time, so I don't know, but I -remember very clearly the first day when Auntie May was 'safe'--able to -see us, I mean. She had been away to the seaside before that time, and -I heard Mary say that when she came back she might go anywhere and see -who she liked. - -Mary tied bows of ribbon on all our necks against her home-coming; she -thought Auntie May wouldn't mind for once, and cook and she thought -that she didn't really ever keep us smart enough. - -I tried not to get mine worked round to my chin so as to oblige Mary; -but Fred got his mixed up with sardine-oil about an hour before she -came, and had to have it taken off. - -We were all in her study when she came in, and I was determined she -should not complain of the coldness of our welcome this time, so we all -rushed at her. - -'Mercy! What a lot of little catapults!' said she. The day was cold, -for it was nearly autumn, and she threw off her coat, not caring how -dreadfully distracting it was to Freddy. He bore it well, though, -and left the most fascinating bobble untouched lest she should feel -neglected. - -'Where is Zobeide?' she said suddenly. 'Mary! Mary!' for Mary had -bolted. - -'I simply cannot rest till I find Zobeide,' she muttered, going to -cupboard doors and opening them. 'The darling! Where is she, Mary? -Mary!' - -It is always the way. She had got _us_, but people always want the one -they haven't got, and then take not the slightest interest in the ones -that have been good and stayed at home; for, of course, as every one -knew, Zobeide was up to no good when she got herself stolen. Auntie May -got quite mad with anxiety, and opened the door of her room and met -Mary on the threshold. - -'Mary, please, where is Zobeide?' - -'Lost, Miss. Mr. Fox have called.' - -Auntie May banged the door and went down to see Mr. Fox. I suppose Mary -told her about Zobeide on the way downstairs, that is if she cared any -more to listen. People are so funny! - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - A WEDDING IN THE HOUSE - - -It was the beginning of the end. - -Mr. Fox's sister sent word she wanted to buy a cat, either me or Fred. -Auntie May told us when she came upstairs that evening after Mr. Fox -had gone. (He had stayed two whole hours.) She said: - -'I think I shall sell Fred, because only last night he emptied my -wastepaper basket, mixed my unanswered letters with the thrown-away -ones, and added a paper of tin tacks and a box of boracic-acid powder -to the mess. Fred is too good to live. I hear Mr. Fox's sister is -very severe with the animals about her place, so, Freddy, you will be -heavily corrected for your misdemeanours. Yes, you are cut out for a -country cat! Your little manners are shocking. Freddy Orson! You ought -to be called Orson.' - -Freddy didn't quite understand that he was being disapproved of, but -he got on her knee in a friendly way and curled round and rubbed his -long tooth against the left wing of her nose, causing her thereby great -discomfort. He meant well, but it all went to prove what she said, that -his manners were not refined. Mother and I thought he had better go, -but indeed we were not consulted. He went in a basket. Mother didn't -say goodbye to him formally. I don't think she noticed. - -Then Rosamond came down to stay in Egerton Gardens, and I got at the -truth of the situation from her. She was now sixteen, and had grown -quite ugly. Children, they say, grow in and out. Well, she was 'out' -now. She was a very sensible girl, though. - -'I believe Mr. Fox is very fond of you, Auntie May,' she said one day, -'and would like to marry you, but he simply can't get at you for your -cats.' - -'Oh, that is what you think, do you?' said Auntie May, not taking much -notice of her, but going on with what she was doing very hard. - -'Yes, and he is trying to exterminate them one by one,' said Rosamond. -'You see he has got rid of Freddy, and very soon he will be making you -an offer for Loki. As for dear old Petronilla, anybody can see that he -won't have to wait long for her, she is on her last legs. Oh, Auntie -dear, say you will marry him when Petronilla dies, and then _see_ if he -doesn't manage to give her poison.' - -'Rosamond, what an odious suggestion! Mr. Fox is very nice--much too -nice to do that--and besides, as I said to him, "Love me, love my -cats."' - -'Ah, so you have spoken to him about it?' gibed the horrid little girl. -'Now you _have_ given yourself away. Well, what does Mr. Fox say? Does -he love you enough to wait for Petronilla's death?' - -'Don't talk nonsense, child. I am not going to marry Mr. Fox at all, -whether Pet were to die to-morrow or live to be a hundred, as I am -sure I hope she will, poor lamb! As for Mr. Fox, our tastes are too -absolutely dissimilar for anything of that kind to be possible.' - -'Quite possible, _I_ think, if only the cat difficulty could be got -over,' said that naughty Rosamond. 'I believe you two adore each other! -And aren't you grateful to him for bringing your horrid cat--horrid -from his point of view I mean--across to Paris for you? I think it was -angelic, like a knight of old, performing terribly difficult tasks to -please his lady.' - -'Will you hold your silly little tongue? Go and do your health -exercises!' - -That was the way she always got rid of Rosamond, by some order or -another. You see Rosamond, though she was sixteen, still had to obey. -Yet though Auntie May was older than Rosamond, that child could turn -her round her little finger. - -Luckily mother was not in the room when Rosamond said those nasty -things about her age. But I thought over them deeply. It was true -mother had grown very thin and weak lately; several times I have heard -Mary say when lifting her up: - -'Why, she don't weigh no more than a feather!' - -Her eyes were so big and bright they seemed to swallow up her whole -face. I wondered how long Mr. Fox thought he would have to wait? I -wondered how long we cats usually live, but, of course, I did not like -to ask mother for fear of making her think about death. I remember -her once telling me that when her time came to die she would not -like anybody to be there. She would try to get away into a corner -somewhere, and not be found till all was over. - -That is cat's way all over the world, and I believe the way of dogs too. - -I wonder if that was the way that Admiral Togo died? - -One morning Auntie May got a letter from Mrs. Dillon. She read it aloud -to Rosamond as long as she could without crying, and then Rosamond took -it by her permission and read it too aloud till _she_ cried. But this -way I got it all. - - RONDEBOSCH, _February 12, 18--_. - - MY DEAR MAY--I have had a great sorrow. Togo is dead. My maid - and I fought for his life so hard that I thought he _must_ live. I - could have borne it better if I could have felt that it was _really_ - inevitable--but the shocking ignorance we have had to contend with - has been incredible. From the first moment of our seeing anything - wrong we sought in every possible direction for help. They always - said it was malaria, and that I was to nurse him up and feed him - as his only chance. When at last I got hold of a vet who _did_ know - his business, he said the poor little thing was dying of - pleurisy--temperature a hundred and five! He said it was too late - for tapping, and he gave him a little whiff of chloroform which - sent him quietly to his last sleep. I could not bear that he should - go through any more doubtful cruel remedies. If my maid had lost an - only child she could not have felt it more, after having nursed - that cat night and day for so long. It has made me quite ill. I do - always love things so passionately, and this was more than a pet. - He was with me constantly, and I knew he was turning into a baby! - Over and over again I have said, 'He is _too_ good, he will never - live to grow up!' He was like Hans Andersen's Mermaid, he was - getting a soul, and indeed he won it at last, in the only way - possible, through love and well-borne pain. The last fortnight - he was almost human, his eyes had lost the mere animal stare, and - looked up constantly into ours for love and help, which we could - not give, alas! He lay most of the time in my arms or in my maid's, - and had grown so thin we had to carry him about in a shawl. He - lost two and a half pounds in three weeks-- - -It was here that Rosamond broke down and the letter was put away. -Auntie May settled to give Mrs. Dillon another kitten, a brother of -Togo's, so perhaps he might be as nice. - -But the new family of kittens were rather wretched-looking little -things, and I sniffed over them a great deal, till mother told me that -I myself had looked neither better nor worse than they did. I enjoyed -helping to mind them, and often I was trusted to get into the basket -and keep them warm while mother stretched her legs. A day or two after -they were born mother said: - -'I shall never have any more, so I mean to do my duty by these!' I -think that meant she fancied she was going to die soon, and I have no -doubt Auntie May knew it too, and told Mr. Fox so. - -Then Beatrice came to stay in London with us for a week, and she spoke -to Auntie May very severely about Mr. Fox. - -'May, you are a fool,' she said. 'I am fond of animals myself, but I -shouldn't let them interfere with things of real importance.' - -'It is unfortunate,' said Auntie May in a cold, horrid tone, 'that I -should happen to fall in love with the only man I know who cannot be in -the same room with a cat. It is too absurd. But what can I do?' - -'Do, silly girl? Sell all this lot of kittens before you have time to -get fond of them; leave Petronilla with Dad, and they can be the prop -of each other's declining years--that is Dad's phrase, not mine, he -said it to me only this morning--and I--yes, I will have Loki, and Tom -shall take up every blessed trap on the place--I'll make him. There, -will that suit you?' - -'But I have got so used to having cats about. Must I be condemned to -live without a cat for all the rest of my life?' - -'May, I have no patience with you. You must give up something.' - -'Why can't _he_ give up something, instead of me?' - -'You may be quite sure he does give up something--heaps of things--to -please you. He is willing to give up smoking--' - -'Yes, it makes me sick. But why should any one mind cats? It is absurd -that such a silly prejudice as that can't be got over.' - -'Well really, if cats make _him_, and smoking makes _you_ sick, I -consider it a very fair exchange. I say, look at Loki, now, I should -take that kitten away from him if I were you, he is licking it to a -pulp.' - -Auntie May got up and took the kitten away from me. I had worked very -hard at it, and had made it quite wet. I thought I had done well. I -know I took pains. I had got my paws round its neck to steady it, and -it said nothing. I must say it looked rather shrunken and flattened out -thin when they took it away, but I believe Beatrice only mentioned it, -and objected to what I was doing to it, to change the conversation. She -probably thought she had been going on at May too long. - -All this time I had never seen the blessed Mr. Fox who was upsetting us -all so. I was kept carefully out of his way. Consequently I didn't see -much of my mistress. - -But one day I was in the studio under a console, behind the dummy, -behind Rosamond's portrait, in fact a good way off, and with a good -many artistic smells between me and Mr. Fox, who had come to see Auntie -May, and had been shown in there as the drawing-room was untidy and -having something done to it, and Mr. Graham was out varnishing at the -Royal Academy. Auntie May knew she had shut the door of her study, and -considered that I therefore could not possibly be anywhere but safe -upstairs. I wasn't in when she shut it, however, you see. I did not -show myself to them, tactfully, but tried to get out, following the -skirting board all the way to the door. There were heaps of things -propped up against the walls, and it was slow work. Besides, Mr. Fox -for once did not seem at all affected by my presence. - -I had only got half round the room when I heard Auntie May say: - -'Mr. Fox--' she hesitated a little, 'it might interest you perhaps to -know that I have decided to let Beatrice take Loki, while Pet stays -behind with Dad!' - -Poor Mr. Fox turned bright red, not pale as he generally does in the -presence of a cat, and said: - -'_Behind_--did you say?' - -'Behind me--that is, if you take _me_ away--' - -When Auntie May said that, in a little voice, it seemed to please Mr. -Fox very much, though it was a simple enough thing to say. They sat -down on a sofa together and talked, and I thought it a good opportunity -to make finally for the door. - -Unfortunately one of the pictures against the wall was stood up too -straight, and when I came out from behind it it fell down with a -clatter. Auntie May got up and came to where I was, and when she saw me -she gave a little jump, and put her finger to her mouth and went back -to Mr. Fox. - -'Henry,' she said, 'how do you feel?' - -'I never felt better in my life, dear,' he answered. 'Since you gave -me your promise the whole air of the world seems changed. I could move -mountains, I feel so fit--' - -'Yet the air of the studio,' she said, 'is not particularly pure. The -smell of paint rags, and varnishes, and stale tobacco, and _cats_--' - -'What do you mean?' - -'I mean that my beloved Loki has been here in the room with you for the -last half-hour, and yet you have been praising the purity of the air -and exulting in your "fitness." Oh, Henry, perhaps you have got over -it?--say you have! Then I shall be quite happy!' - -'Perhaps I have,' said he. 'You, by your presence, are able to dispel -evil influences--temporarily, at any rate. We will try.' - -'No, Loki goes to Beatrice's all the same,' she said sadly, and put me -gently out of the door. - -I myself think it was the smell of the turpentines and varnishes, and -so on, that she had spoken of that made Mr. Fox not notice me, and I -foresaw that I should not see much more of my mistress in the time to -come. - -She married Mr. Fox in less than a month's time, and I have never seen -her cry so much in her life as on her wedding day when she kissed -mother and me and bade us goodbye. She kissed us twice, once before she -went to the church, and we got tangled up in her veil, and the smell -of orange blossoms (real, in her hair, that Mrs. Jay sent from Paris) -nearly made us ill, but we were proud to be so loved, and wished we -could follow her to the altar. - -[Illustration: SHE MARRIED MR. FOX IN LESS THAN A MONTH.] - -Beatrice, in dove-coloured taffeta, to show that she was going to love -us dearly, and didn't think any frock too good for us, held us in -her arms too, and gave us a chance of crushing her trimmings, but she -didn't care, for it made Auntie May happy and sent her down with a -smile on her face. Rosamond, Amerye, and Kitty were her bridesmaids, -and very nice they looked, but I didn't take much notice of them, -knowing that I was going to spend the rest of my life with them in -Yorkshire. Tom met me on the staircase, just as I was stealing down to -see some of the fun. - -'Hollo, little beggar!' he said. 'Where are you off to so fast? Don't -you go near the bridegroom for your life, he is shaky enough already. -Back to barracks, back to barracks, young man!' and he took me by the -scruff of my neck and walked me upstairs to the study again. So I never -had another sight of Auntie May's husband, then or afterwards. - -Auntie May stays with Beatrice sometimes without him, but not for long. -They live in the summer at Shortleas. Of course she often comes over -for the day. When he comes with her I am carefully kept out of the -way, and, indeed, I fall in with their plans cheerfully, and arrange -to spend a good deal of time in the garden and employ myself as well -as I can, for I am becoming quite an outside cat now, and catch birds -and mice. One's sentiment becomes blunted with age, I find. I don't -suffer over my hunting proclivities as I used to do. Tom calls me the -sporting cat, and wouldn't shoot me for the world, I am too useful. -Beatrice is proud of me and my ruff, and shows me to visitors when she -can get me in in time. I always come when she calls me, unless I am -in the middle of a bird, and then I bring it along to show her why I -dawdled. She always screams and hides her face, and says: - -'Oh, take it away, Loki, don't show it _me_! I suppose you _must_, but -I needn't know it!' - -All the same, I know she thinks me smart to have caught it, and I never -spare her a bird. - -Auntie May's baby has two nurses to itself. They come and stay here -what Beatrice calls _ad lib_, while Auntie May and Mr. Fox are visiting -on the 'continong,' as the head nurse says. Of course Beatrice is very -glad to have them. The under nurse is a child, not much bigger than -Rosamond, and far more meddlesome than a child. This is the sort of -thing she does. - -Since I have been here I have learned that there are such things as -swallows--fidgety birds, that winter abroad like Auntie May and Mr. -Fox, and that I would as soon think of eating as I would of eating the -baby. I feel a sort of relationship, too, as if swallows were the -'smoke-blues' among birds; their fur is the kind of blue we are, only -darker, and they are not at all a common kind of bird. - -One summer a swallow built its nest in a tool-house not far off the -tree where the nurse and baby and Lotty used to take the pram and sit -all the afternoon. Lotty had not much to do; the nurse would hardly -trust her with baby, so she played about and pried into other people's -affairs. She discovered the swallow's nest high up under the eaves, -where nothing except a Lotty could possibly reach it. She poked away at -it with a stick, and pushed it down. - -There _was_ a scene! Rosamond was so cross! When she was told, she ran -straight into the shed where Lotty told her all the birds were lying -about on the ground. She first bade the head nurse hold me and hide my -face under her dress, lest I should see her go in and learn where the -birds were. As if I did not know, and as if I should touch them! The -nurse put me into the pram beside the baby and rocked us both; and I -liked that, and lay quite still and waited for Rosamond to come back -out of the tool-house and tell us all about it. She soon came back and -sat down beside nurse and Tom, who had come out too. Lotty sneaked away -crying. - -'That little fool!' said Rosamond. 'What did she want to go into the -tool-shed for? One of the birds is not to be found, but I have picked -up the nest and two of the nestlings, and put them back and jammed -the remnants of the nest against the wall somehow. Will they live? -The only thing is that they would have been ready to fly in a day or -two. Perhaps the mother will come back and feed them? We must put a -saucer of bread and milk there. And keep Loki away. You must promise -faithfully not to go near the place to see, nurse. As for Lotty, she -will never look at a swallow again, I should hope. Ignorant meddling -little thing!' - -All the rest of that afternoon did I sit quietly beside the head nurse, -with my eye fixed on that shed. By and by I counted as many as ten -swallows flying in and out continually--making a great fuss, in fact. I -promised myself to go there and see for myself after dark. - -But I was saved from committing a very vile and foolish action. Of -course the sight of a cat, however harmless, would have driven away -the relations of the little swallows for ever! About a couple of hours -later, however, Rosamond went into the shed, and told Beatrice what she -had seen. - -'They have found the other swallow. There are three in the nest. I -looked. They must have heaved it up off the ground somehow on their -broad flat backs. Oh how I wish I had seen them do it! And it looks--I -can't actually swear it--as if some of the bread and milk had gone! -Wonderful creatures! Now in a day or two the nestlings will probably -fly away, and I shall be able to forgive Lotty!' - -Sure enough, a few days after this the nest was empty. There was no -other cat about the place but me, and I had not been near the shed, -but had relied solely for information on what I heard Rosamond tell -Beatrice. The nurse had, I am sorry to say, so little faith in human -nature that she believed to the last that I had eaten them all, but -Beatrice and Rosamond knew that I had not; they would have seen it in -my eyes if I had, so they said. - -I am called Rosamond's cat. It is Rosamond that I sit on the mat for -when she is out and run to when she comes home. I am very fond of -Rosamond, and I think her very good. I suppose that is the reason her -mother is so fond of her. That is the one thing I can never understand. -I never saw Beatrice 'bat' Rosamond as my mother 'batted' me. Instead, -I see Rosamond, at sixteen, get on to her mother's knee and sit there. -Beatrice evidently knows quite well that Rosamond is her child. I often -wonder if Rosamond went away for a long while, whether Beatrice would -not forget her, as mother forgot me while I was in Paris? - -Perhaps if they do decide to send her to Paris to be 'finished,' which -is talked of, when she comes back they will alter their ways, and -behave like ordinary people. Rosamond doesn't go to school, but has a -new governess every three months or so, so it shows that they do take -pains with her. - -I am not sure that I am not the reason they keep her at home. She could -not look after me if she were away at school, and as it is, she is -everything to me. Of course I never can love any one as much as Auntie -May; even now when I see her I can't mew for happiness. I just lie in -her lap and say nothing for hours, and she says to Beatrice: - -'I _wonder_ if Loki really remembers me?' - -Oh, I am remembering all the time, only I can't say it! Why, there is -an old fur jacket of hers that she left here once for Rosamond that -I simply never let Rosamond have. I lay on it and covered it with -grey hairs, that won't brush off, thank goodness! So that in the end -Beatrice has given up all idea of taking it away from me, and it is -called Loki's coat, not Rosamond's. - -Rosamond sometimes looks at me sitting on it, and pretends to shriek, -and says: - -'I should be so warm this winter if Loki hadn't taken my nice winter -coat for himself!' - -I blink at her, and stretch out my paw, for I know it is all fun. What -is Auntie May's smell, that is all over that dear coat, to Rosamond, -compared with what it is to me? The oddest thing of all is that they -none of Them seem to imagine how awfully fond I am of Auntie May, and -how I hate Mr. Fox for taking my mistress away from me! - -One of these days at breakfast time there came a letter from Auntie -May, and they told me my mother was dead. Kitty tied a bit of black -ribbon round my paw. They don't understand. I kept it on till -dinner-time to please the child. - -A month later some one told me that Auntie May had found Zobeide again -at a cat-show at the Crystal Palace--or at least a cat that she was -sure _was_ Zobeide from some secret signs she knew. She took a prize, -anyway. I gather that Auntie May was not able to make good her claim -on the cat. Fancy, nearly two years afterwards! Why, I am very much -altered since the day I was here first, and whacked Great-Uncle Tomyris -in the looking-glass in Beatrice's room. I saw him again the other day. -He looks older too, if a ghost _can_ look older. I am not afraid of him -any more. I am bored by him, and don't care to raise so much as a paw -to him. - -I am really a very happy cat. I never worry. I eat brown bread. The -only bad thing that _could_ happen to me, I think, would be that my new -mistress, Rosamond Gilmour, should go and choose a Mr. Fox for herself, -and then I should be thrown on the world again. - -Of course, she _may_ marry, but I believe in that case she would take -me with her, and luckily the tribe of Foxes is not common. - - - THE END - - - _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAT *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Cat</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Animal Autobiographies</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Violet Hunt</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: April 6, 2022 [eBook #67785]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAT ***</div> - -<div class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop"> - <img src="images/illusc.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<p>ANIMAL AUTOBIOGRAPHIES</p> - -<h1>THE CAT</h1> - -<h2>BY VIOLET HUNT</h2> - - -<p>LONDON<br /> -ADAM & CHARLES BLACK<br /> -1905</p> - - -<p>'I had rather be a kitten and cry—Mew!'<br /> -<span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span></p> - - -<p>AGENTS IN AMERICA<br /> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -<span class="smcap">64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, New York</span></p> - -<p><i>UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.</i><br /> -<i>PRICE 6s. EACH.</i><br /><br /> - -THE DOG.<br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> G. E. MITTON.<br /><br /> - -THE BLACK BEAR.<br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> PERRY ROBINSON.<br /><br /> - -THE RAT.<br /> -<span class="smcap">By</span> G. M. A. HEWETT.</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ph1">TO<br /> -ANNE CHILD</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="figcenter" id="frontis"> - <img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>LOKI.</p> - </div> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - - -<p>A cat is of all animals the most difficult to know; it is so intimate, -but so detached; so dependent on human beings for its comfort, so -loftily indifferent to their wishes. It requires one who has lived -with cats and seen their idiosyncrasies, their whims and their strong -individuality, to write about them, and in the present author they -have found a spokeswoman who knows them through and through. A sense -of humour is necessary in dealing with the subject—and the humour is -not lacking. Loki is a real cat in more senses than one, and those who -follow his life story will find themselves better able to understand -their own cats than they have ever been before.</p> - -<p>THE EDITOR.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="contents"> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Nursery</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">One Less than Five</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">To Lap or Not to Lap</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Schoolroom</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">One Less than Four</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The First Journey</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Invalid</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Man who hated Me</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My First Mouse</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Children's Hour</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Surprise that fell Flat</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From Top to Bottom</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Catapuk</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV.</a></td><td align="left">'<span class="smcap">Poosh!</span>'</td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Black Common Cat</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Black Cat brings Measles</span></td></tr> -<tr><td align="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII.</a></td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Wedding in the House</span></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<h3><span class="smcap">By Adolph Birkenruth</span></h3> - -<table summary="illustrations"> -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#frontis">Loki</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus1">The milk ran down the creases to the floor</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus2">She used to stand on her hind legs and look at the painting</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus3">Out of that dog's way, at any rate</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus4">Auntie May took me across her shoulder</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus5">I played with shavings for about an hour</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus6">A black cat brings good luck to a theatre</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus7">I did not want to see any one of them again</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus8">Mistigris used to lie in wait for me</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus9">'I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,' she said</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus10">That boy was rough and played experiments with him</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="left"><a href="#illus11">She married Mr. Fox in less than a month</a></td></tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2>THE CAT</h2> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> - -<h3>THE NURSERY</h3> - - -<p>I first saw the light—at least I did not exactly see the light, for I -was blind, so they tell me, for about a week after I was born—on the -twenty-third of April 19—. There were five of us, three boys and two -girls. Our mother was a pure-blooded Persian; so was our father, and -it was, I believe, considered by Them a very good match. They arrange -all our matches for us in this country, and indeed manage most of our -affairs, but then it must be remembered that we are strangers, as the -title Persian denotes. Moreover, we belong to that division of the race -that is called 'Blue Smokes,' which means, not that our fur is blue, -for that would be ugly and loud, but that if you part it and look -carefully at the roots you will see that it is exactly the shade of -blue that smoke is when you get a lot of it together. Papa's name is -'Blue Boy II.,' and he is excessively handsome, and has taken prizes at -cat-shows all over the country. His mistress, Miss Goddard, who lives -at West Dulwich, is always travelling about with him to show him, and -mother is very proud of that.</p> - -<p>The first sound that I heard—for I wasn't born deaf as well as -blind—was the voice of Rosamond, a little girl who lives in our house -sometimes, screeching at the top of her voice, 'Oh, Auntie, Auntie May! -Petronilla has got her kittens! Hooray! Hooray!'</p> - -<p>My mistress came running upstairs two steps at a time, and put her foot -through her dress—I heard it rip. Then she leaned over us, for I felt -her breath on my face, and said in a voice quite gurgly with pleasure, -'Brava, Petronilla!'</p> - -<p>Then another voice—I learnt afterwards that it was the voice of the -parlour-maid, a good soul and as fond of cats as Auntie May—said, -'They look just like so many grey boiled rags, don't they, Miss?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, p-p-please, Auntie May,' began Rosamond, stuttering in her -eagerness, 'mayn't I take one out to look at it?'</p> - -<p>'Certainly not. How dare you propose such a thing! Go and do your -health exercises. Petronilla is to be left entirely alone and not -bothered.'</p> - -<p>'Quite right, Miss Rosamond!' said Mary; 'I've heard say that if you -watch her she'll do them a mischief. I knew a cat what ate all her -kittens—'</p> - -<p>'Ssh, Mary, I am sure Petronilla would not do such a thing. She isn't a -common cat. But I tell you what she will certainly do if she thinks we -are going to touch them or take them away from her—she will hide them. -She knows it isn't good for them to be handled. You have no idea of the -amount cats know, and though Petronilla is only four years old, she -knows as much as the best nurse ever did. Now be off, all of you, and -leave her alone!'</p> - -<p>All very well, but Mary the maid simply couldn't keep away, and about -three days after this she came in to dust the room (although she had -been forbidden to do that just yet, for fear of blowing the germy dust -into our eyes and down our throats); and when she had done dusting, -she bent down and took us all out one by one, and examined us till -she was sure to know us again. Mother looked at her reproachfully, but -did not lift a paw to her, for she knew Mary was a dear good creature, -and, though silly, would sacrifice her life for a single grey hair off -mother's head, or indeed a hair of anywhere off her, and she once said -so. But when Mary had gone she took a decided line, and said that she -was determined to make an end of all this fingering and pawing of young -limbs, which would certainly prevent them from growing and developing -properly.</p> - -<p>There was a large press with low flat shelves in a corner of the room, -full of Auntie May's clothes, that just suited her purpose. She took -us all up, one by one, carefully, in her mouth, keeping her teeth back -somehow or other not to hurt us, though she could not help making us -most disagreeably wet, and carried us along to the cupboard, bumping us -as little as she could help on the floor, but still she did bump us. -Then with one of us in her mouth, she jumped up to the shelf she had -chosen—having first opened the folding doors of the cupboard with her -paws—and laid him or her carefully down in the corner, and so with us -all.</p> - -<p>When Auntie May came up to find her clothes for going out, she -discovered us. Mother purred at once to disarm her, for it was known -that Auntie May could not manage to be really cross with dear Pet for -long, <span class="smcap">IF</span> she purred.</p> - -<p>'Oh, you <i>beast</i>—darling, I mean! Right on the top of my best white -wuffy hat! Come out of it at once, angel—pet! And here is another on -my ermine boa! And another on my best painted <i>crèpe de chine</i> blouse! -Oh, this is too much, Petronilla, my lamb—'</p> - -<p>And she took us all out quite gently, not hurting us half so much as -mother did in bumping us along the floor, and put us back into our bed -of fresh hay, that we have to lie in so as to make us smell sweet. -Auntie May always says that very young infant kittens are like babies, -and need beautiful accessories, such as blue bows, and green hay, and -white powder puffs.</p> - -<p>They fastened the wardrobe door very tight and strictly forbade Mary -to touch us, and for many days after this we just lay still and -ate—ate—ate! Mother, however greedy we were, never pushed us away. -She was like a soft hill of wool that we had leave to lie up against -and browse upon. Every now and then she spread out her paws, which were -like silver streaks, wide and square, all over us, not heavily, so as -to weigh us down, but lightly, like a sort of lattice that kept the -cold draughts off us, and that we might fancy to be a wall or a hedge -between us and the world if we liked.</p> - -<p>It was the great advantage of mother's being a pet cat that she and her -family lived in the house, not in a cattery, as they are called. Mother -knew very well what a cattery was like—she had been in one before a -man bought her and gave her to Auntie May as a present. She cost three -guineas, she said. It was a very nice cattery, as catteries go—she -admits that—and she will always look upon it with affection as being -her first home, but still there was a lot of difference between it and -Auntie May's house. A cattery has generally hard trodden-in earth for a -floor, without a carpet, except for a few unhemmed bits spread here and -there. There's generally an old chair—wooden—to scrape your claws on: -now velvet, such as is kept here, mother says, is much more interesting -and efficacious. The bed is inside, under cover—I grant you that—but -only made out of a few old packing cases, and there is generally a -horrid smelly oil-lamp to warm the whole place. Now Auntie May had us -in her own bedroom for the first week of our lives, and when she did -move us, it was only into her study. She was an authoress and had to -have a study; at least her father, who was a distinguished painter and -R.A., and adores his daughter, thought she had as much right as he to -have a studio—same word as study. 'She sells her books, and I don't -sell my pictures!' he said. (I call her Auntie May because Rosamond -does, and because it sounds more respectful, and mother said I ought.) -Her study was quite nicely furnished and full of bureaus and manuscript -cupboards and high things to perch on. Mother says it is advisable when -choosing a perch to get as high as possible, because of the draughts -that run along the floors of even the best rooms.</p> - -<p>Mother told us many things as we lay there, but I can't say I took much -notice of them till my eyes opened. It was just a nice sleepy sound she -made that sent us off to bye-bye one after another. I suppose she slept -herself, but I never remember being awake when she wasn't. She was a -very good mother; she hardly ever left us. Of course she got out of the -bed to eat her meals; she detested crumbs in the bed, and so on. If she -went away she always came back with a kind sort of speech—Rosamond -called it a mew—something like 'Here we are again!' or 'Well, how -goes it, infants?' and then lay down right on the top of us. Rosamond -used to scold her and pull her off us, thinking she would hurt us; she -didn't know that we were always able to ooze away from under mother -quite easily when once she had turned round three times and got settled.</p> - -<p>Till my eyes opened I did not know how many brothers and sisters I -had, except for mother's telling me. I fought them all without having -the slightest idea of the sort of thing I was fighting. I knew it -had claws, though. I knew that Fred B. Nicholson, as they called him -afterwards, after Auntie May's American cousin, was a regular bully -from the beginning, always putting himself forward, and shoving us away -from the best places. After all, eating is everything in those first -days, and mother was singularly weak where Fred was concerned, and let -him batter us as much as he liked, and never took our side against him. -She only said 'First come, first served!' and 'Heaven helps those that -help themselves!' and certainly he did grow a great strong boy.</p> - -<p>Perhaps that was the reason why his eyes opened first!</p> - -<p>Rosamond gave us a great deal of attention when her own lessons were -over, and before, and hung over us till she got all the blood to her -head, she said. She called herself cat-maid. One day when she was -leaning over our bed, she suddenly jumped up and screamed:</p> - -<p>'Oh, Auntie May, one of them—I don't even know which, but I think it -is Fred B. Nicholson—has got a tiny, tiny slit where his eyes ought to -be! Do you suppose he can see?'</p> - -<p>I felt the first grief of my life. I <i>knew</i> there was no slit where -<i>my</i> eyes ought to be, and I felt sure it <i>was</i>, as Rosamond guessed, -that horrid boy Fred, who always got first in everything. Next day the -slit in his face was bigger. That evening they said with certainty, -'Yes, Fred can see!' In the daylight Rosamond discovered that his eyes -were blue. By that time <i>I</i> saw what looked like a streak of light, -and guessed that my eyes were going to open soon, and wondered if they -would be blue too! I asked mother, and she laughed at Rosamond and at -me, saying that all kittens' eyes are blue at first. Even Rosamond -ought to have known that. The question was, would they be green or -orange afterwards?</p> - -<p>'I should be very sorry,' mother said, 'if any of you turned out to -have green eyes. That would defeat all poor Auntie May's plans. I have -green eyes myself, alas! and she is most good to overlook it in me, -but your father has the most beautiful golden eyes in the world, or in -any cat-show, and let us hope that you will have the luck to take after -him!'</p> - -<p>Fred began, the others followed. My eyes were the last to open. I -suppose I had caught cold; I am sure I was not delicate. They took warm -milk and mopped the place where the eyes ought to be. Mother licked me. -They raced to cure me. Mother always said that she backed her licking, -but I fancy the warm milk did it, myself. And pretty soon I saw. We all -saw, and so when we quarrelled we managed to aim better.</p> - -<p>I really saw very little besides untidy spiky bits of hay sticking up -all round me, and beyond that, a wall of wicker. I sometimes saw great -moonfaces bending over me, and Rosamond's long golden fur tickled me as -she put her head right into the basket. <i>She</i> had blue eyes, but then -she was still a child. I wondered if they would be green or orange when -she grew up? Auntie May's were brown, shot with green; she had quite -dark fur too, and tied up, not hanging down like Rosamond's.</p> - -<p>If I chose to keep my eyes <i>inside</i> the basket, I saw my mother's -green eyes, and they were so pretty and mournful. Auntie May used to -call them Burne-Jones eyes. She meant it as a compliment, and mother -always purred. She loved being praised.</p> - -<p>Though Freddy's eyes were open, he could not scratch himself with his -hind leg without falling over, and I could. Then I found that <i>I</i> could -do something else Freddy could not, that is, make a queer rolling, -rumbling, useless sound in my throat. I don't see much good in it -myself, but it gives Them pleasure. They take it as if we were saying -'Thank you' when we are given food or stroked. But no one, not even the -vet,—that is the cat doctor—know how it is done. I heard him say so. -I have not the slightest idea how I do it. I just listened to mother, -and brooded over the thought for days, and all of a sudden I woke up, -as Rosamond was tickling my stomach, and found myself r-r-ring away -somewhere inside me like anything! Mother even started when she heard -me; I am not sure she was altogether glad.</p> - -<p>'Poor child!' she said, 'he is taking up his burden early. They mostly -don't expect recognition from us until we are older. Don't, don't purr -too easily, my son; be chary of your gift: it is wiser.' But Rosamond -buried her face in me and mother, so as to hear better, and presently -she raised it and called out to Auntie May, who was sitting writing at -her little table:</p> - -<p>'Oh, Auntie May'—(all her sentences began like that)—'this kitten, -who was so late with his eyes, is at any rate the first to purr! Purr, -darling, purr!'</p> - -<p>I purred till my throat was sore, and she stroked my back and tickled -my stomach till I had to curl up and bring my hind legs and my head -together. They think you do it because you like being tickled, not -because you can't help it. I purred so much that day that I had to take -a rest the next, and then They said I was sulky!</p> - -<p>And Freddy was jealous. He could not purr, though he <i>could</i> spit. -Mother reproves him, for she says that spitting, though a useful weapon -and a protection against intrusive aliens, is not to be used in private -life between cat and cat. It is good for dogs, if I ever see one. -Mother uses it but rarely for Them. I asked her why she didn't spit at -the people in the house, who, though well-meaning, irritated her by -coming and lifting us out and looking us all over, and talking about -our points, and preventing us from growing? She said, 'I don't do it -to Them, however annoying they are, because, when all is said and done, -I am well bred and Persian.'</p> - -<p>I knew mother never said a thing like that without being able to prove -it, so I was a little surprised one day at what one of Auntie May's -friends said. This man took Fred up and handled him as if he didn't -know much about kittens. I watched him. His moonface had a queer little -smile much too small for it—a sly smile.</p> - -<p>'Touch of Persian about this cat, I should say!' he observed quietly.</p> - -<p>'Why, they <i>are</i> Persian, Mr. Blake!' Rosamond cried out; but Auntie -May said nothing, but simply hoofed him out of her room and ours. His -little smile had grown bigger.</p> - -<p>After he had gone, mother boiled with rage.</p> - -<p>'I won't stand this!' she exclaimed. 'Come along, my traduced darlings, -with me, and we will hide you, lest you be again exposed to insolent -criticism of that kind. Touch of Persian indeed! Perhaps he thinks -Persians haven't claws! Perhaps he thinks we cannot resent injuries -adequately! Come, my pure-bred doves! Come, my prize darlings, my -pedigree'd angels!'</p> - -<p>The door into Auntie May's bedroom next door was left open. Mother -carried us in one by one and laid us on the ground under the famous -cupboard we had been in before, while she leaned up and, with her paw, -turned the handle of the cupboard door. Then she seized me and jumped -with me on to the bottom shelf and stowed me in one corner, pulling -the clothes and what not that was there all over me, so as to hide me -completely. She then left me, recommending me to silence, or I should -get 'what for' with her hind feet, and fetched the others one by one. -She placed them all on different shelves—I saw her leap past me each -time—and stayed herself with Fred, for I did not see her go past -again. That was a long jump, for it took her right up to the fifth -shelf.</p> - -<p>All the afternoon we lay there, mother visiting us all in turn. -Unfortunately, she had not been able to succeed in closing the wardrobe -door after her. It yawned in the most suspicious manner, and so Auntie -May thought when she came back from Pinner, where she had gone to dine -and sleep, as soon as Mr. Blake had departed. About eleven o'clock the -next morning she came bouncing in in her hat and jacket, and the moment -her eye fell on the open door she cried out:</p> - -<p>'Oh, my prophetic soul! Come here at once, Rosamond, or you will be -sorry!'</p> - -<p>She opened the door wider and looked in, but, naturally, could see -nothing.</p> - -<p>'It <i>looks</i> all right!' she said to Rosamond. 'But all the same I feel -sure that Petronilla is somewhere inside. Isn't my <i>crèpe de chine</i> -blouse in that corner rucked up rather suspiciously? Gently! Don't let -us spoil poor Petronilla's game of "Hide-and-Seek." We mustn't find -them too soon.'</p> - -<p>Fred was under the <i>crèpe de chine</i> blouse, and they found him. Then -they found the other boy, with some artificial violets she wears -pinned on to the front of her dress in the evening on top of him. On -the top story one of the girls was curled into the crown of a hat, and -mother was in the lowest shelf with the other, mixed up with an ermine -boa. The play lasted quite ten minutes, and Rosamond was delighted. -Very little damage was done; in fact, as mother said, a clean, -well-licked-every-day cat, if you don't frighten him and drive him to -desperation, rarely spoils clothes, or breaks ornaments, or leaves any -trace of his presence. But if you chivy him or make him nervous, he -doesn't choose to hold himself accountable for any harm he may happen -to do, naturally!</p> - -<p>There were five of us, and, so far, only Fred B. Nicholson had been -christened. Rosamond, who is a child who loves putting things into -their right places and calling them by their proper names, pointed this -out to her Aunt.</p> - -<p>'There are certain royalties,' said Auntie May, 'whose religion cannot -be chosen till they have grown up and it is decided whom they are to -marry. The same with kittens' names. The naming ought to be left to the -people with whom they are eventually going to live. I can't keep more -than one of them, you know. We should be what they call <i>cat-ridden</i>.'</p> - -<p>This was the first I heard of it. From that day the thought hung -over me that our pleasant little party would have to be broken up. I -wondered if I could possibly contrive to be the one They kept. I could -not bear the idea of moving to a new home. But mother said it was the -law of nature. Her motto was from a poem of Miss Jean Ingelow that -Auntie May had once quoted—</p> - -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse"><i>To hear, to nurse, to rear,</i></div> - <div class="verse"><i>To love and then to lose....</i></div> -</div></div> - -<p>She never worried—much, though she confessed at first it was rather -trying, and that she caught herself wandering about looking into -corners, searching for what she knew went away in a basket the day -before. It was just a habit mothers got into, and when a few weeks had -elapsed she just shook herself and thought no more of the kitten that -had gone to make its mark on some one else's chair cushions. 'Dear me!' -she used to say, 'I have on an average five kittens a year. What should -I do with them all hanging about, getting in my way at every turn? I -should become irritable, I should snap at them, I should positively -hate them as soon as they became independent and I could do nothing for -them. It is best as it is.'</p> - -<p>After that speech of mother's, I was not so sure that I wanted to be -the kitten They chose to keep, that is, if mother meant to turn round -and bully me as soon as I could stand up for myself. It seemed strange -to hear her talk like that, and yet one likes to be forewarned.</p> - -<p>Rosamond gave us temporary names—reach-me-down names, she called them. -Fred B. Nicholson was allowed to stand; the boy Auntie May called -Admiral Togo, a Japanese name, I understand. The two girls were -Zobeide and Blanch. I was called Loki, after the devil.</p> - -<p>They did not know, but we all had one name already, a traditional one -in our family. It was Pasht. Our ancestors lived at a place called -Bubastis. For convenience' sake, however, we stuck to the names They -gave us. They seemed to have an idea that we should answer to them and -come when we were called, but mother told us on no account ever to do -so, it would be false to every tradition of our class. We might go as -far as to twitch an ear when we heard our name spoken pleasantly, but -only on the very rarest occasions were we to stir a paw. Then, if we -decided to go to Them, it was at least manners to stop half-way and -scratch. If the name was spoken in an unfriendly tone, the thing to -do was just to stare the impertinent creature down. At Bubastis, in -the olden time, our ancestors had been worshipped and prayed to. In -the studio downstairs, where mother had been a constant visitor in the -days when she was free of domestic cares, there is one of our ancestors -under a glass case just as he was buried when he died thousands of -years ago. He is all wrapped in a sort of brown greased cloth, so -mother says, many hundred folds of it, but still you can perfectly -well see the original shape of our many-hundreds-of-times-over -great-uncle. Nobody has ever unwrapped him; it would be very wicked -to do it, and might bring misfortune on the house. Altogether he is -treated with the greatest respect, and mother is quite content to have -it so. We are taught to look on that room not as the studio as They -do, but as the Family Tomb, and mother says that when we grow up and -are permitted to sit there sometimes, we must all keep very quiet and -behave seriously and do no romping.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> - -<h3>ONE LESS THAN FIVE</h3> - - -<p>One morning we woke up, and found mother had left us. The window was -open, and mother had suddenly felt tired of nursing and as if she must -have a breath of fresh air. She was outside on a kind of coping there -was all round the house. Nobody was worrying at all when in came Mary -and Rosamond. They called to mother to come in at once, for it was -blowing a cold east wind, and then suddenly they discovered that she -was in difficulties. She had jumped off the coping to another piece -that stuck out at the side, and now, though she wanted to come back, -her resolution had deserted her, and she thought she should never be -able to do it. She told us all this, but Mary and Rosamond only thought -she was crying out piteously.</p> - -<p>'She can do it quite easily, Miss, if she will only face it,' said -Mary. 'It stands to reason that if she could jump there, she can jump -back!'</p> - -<p>'Of course, Mary,' said Rosamond. 'What you can do once you can do -again. Come, you silly-billy! Jump! Don't be a coward!'</p> - -<p>Mother explained that the more she thought about it, the more she -couldn't do it, and that perhaps if they would go away and leave her -to herself, she would feel differently, but of course they couldn't -understand her. They took a small chair and held it out of the window -with one hand. Mother knew that if she were to leap upon that, her -weight would make them drop it, and, sure enough, they did drop it all -the same, and it went clattering down into the garden below. Then they -said 'Ow! Whatever'll Miss May say?' and shut the window. Mother was -glad of that, for the wind was really too cold for us as we lay inside, -and as a matter of fact she was not in the slightest danger if only -they would go away, go downstairs and pick up the pieces of the chair -in the garden. She mildly suggested it to them, but they did not even -begin to understand.</p> - -<p>'Aw, poor thing, don't her mew come faint-like through the window!' -said that silly Mary. 'You and me can't both leave her, Miss. Shall -one of us go and fetch Miss May?'</p> - -<p>'Do, do go away!' implored mother, 'and then I shall be able to make my -jump!'</p> - -<p>'I have an idea!' said Rosamond, and she came to our basket and picked -up Zobeide, and carried her to the window and held her out to mother. -Of course Zobeide screamed, and poor mother couldn't stand that and -her legs obeyed her unconsciously and brought her in at once. She said -'Thank you' to Rosamond as she crossed the sill and walloped back into -her bed and begged them to shut the window, which of course they didn't -do, and it was open half-an-hour later when Auntie May came up from -her singing lesson and Rosamond told her with pride what she had done. -Auntie May knows a great deal about cats. She said at once that it -wasn't necessary, that Petronilla would have known quite enough to come -in of her own accord, and that it was too cold a day to hold a young -kitten out in the raw air; still, as far as she could see, we were all -perfectly well, and feeding away busily, so probably no harm was done.</p> - -<p>Mother said to us that she wasn't quite so sure of that, for the wind -was very cold, and she took particular care of Zobeide, and gave her -the best place, and cuddled her till Zobeide squealed and said she -didn't like affection if it meant being held so tight.</p> - -<p>Next morning, when Auntie May came and stood over the basket, she -seemed very grave.</p> - -<p>'Rosamond, come here,' she said. 'Which kitten did you hold out of the -window?'</p> - -<p>'I am afraid I don't quite know which,' Rosamond said, very much -puzzled and upset, as I could tell by her voice. 'It was <i>one</i> of the -girls, Blanch or Zobeide, but I am sure I could not say which of them. -Why? What is the matter?'</p> - -<p>'Come and look!' said Auntie May.</p> - -<p>Then I myself noticed for the first time that Blanch was lying a little -way off mother, and breathing very funnily. Her body seemed to break in -half under the skin with every breath she took, and she gave a great -shake right across her. She was flattened out and her legs parted wide -so that her chest was spread along the floor of the basket. She made a -rushing noise with her breathing like what one hears when the bath is -filling.</p> - -<p>'She looks just like a frog!' said Rosamond. 'Oh, Auntie May, is she -ill, and is it my fault?'</p> - -<p>'Do you think it was Blanch you held over the window?'</p> - -<p>'I said before I don't know, but perhaps it was.'</p> - -<p>'It looks rather like it,' said Auntie May sadly, and put on her hat -and jacket and fetched the doctor.</p> - -<p>'Lor', for a kitten!' said Mary.</p> - -<p>'It's worth three guineas if it lives, Mary,' said Rosamond through her -tears. 'But it won't, and it will be my fault. I have murdered it!'</p> - -<p>'Don't cry, pretty child!' mother said to her. 'It was Zobeide you held -out of the window, and look at her sleeping so sweetly here under my -paw! This is Blanch who is dying, and it is the will of Providence.'</p> - -<p>Poor Rosamond couldn't understand her, and began to abuse her for her -calmness.</p> - -<p>'You <i>are</i> a heartless old thing, Petronilla, you are! Look at you, -calmly nursing four kittens, while one of them is too ill even to eat!'</p> - -<p>'Of course it will not eat. It will die,' said mother gently, and as -usual Rosamond didn't understand.</p> - -<p>'Oh yes, you may mew, and try to palaver me, but that won't stop me -thinking you a heartless beast!'</p> - -<p>'I <i>am</i> a beast,' answered mother sweetly.</p> - -<p>'Oh, please, please, make it eat! or else it will starve!'</p> - -<p>'It <i>will</i> starve,' said mother, but she made no opposition when -Rosamond tried to make the poor little Blanch feed like the rest of us. -We had never stopped eating; we knew we couldn't do anything for poor -Blanch, and we knew, too, that it was Zobeide who had been held out of -the window, and longed to tell May she was mistaken and put her out of -her misery. When Dr. Hobday came twenty minutes later, we had to listen -to Auntie May telling him the story, and asking him if that was what -had made Blanch ill?</p> - -<p>'It is very unlikely,' said he. 'This kitten was probably unhealthy -from the first. It has pneumonia now, and I am afraid in such a young -kitten the case is pretty well hopeless; but we will try to save it, if -you think it worth while?'</p> - -<p>'It is <i>not</i> worth while,' said mother loudly and clearly, but, of -course, no one took any notice of her—she was <i>called</i> the Talking -Cat, but they didn't really think it was talking, only general -friendliness—and Auntie May said she meant to try and save Blanch's -life.</p> - -<p>First of all Blanch was put into a separate basket, lined with -flannel; a piece of flannel was to be sewn round her with little holes -for her front paws to go out of. She had to lie on a hot bottle. The -temperature of the room had to be kept up to sixty-three degrees. She -was to be fed every two hours, on a mixture of milk and sugar and hot -water, about equal parts, so as to make something as like mother's milk -as possible.</p> - -<p>'I shall have to sit up with her,' said Auntie May, 'or buy an alarm -clock to wake me up every two hours.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Auntie May, do let <i>me</i> sit up!' cried Rosamond.</p> - -<p>'Why, you are but a kitten yourself!'</p> - -<p>'Ah, but I'm over three years old,' said Rosamond. 'I am twelve years -old. I suppose that represents a kitten's twelve weeks, doesn't it? So -this kitten is three weeks, that is to say three years old.'</p> - -<p>'It is a baby in arms,' said Auntie May, 'and is going to be fed with a -bottle, like other babies.'</p> - -<p>She had got a doll's feeding-bottle she had bought once at a bazaar, -and she tried that, but it was defective and would not let the milk -run through. Then she got her stylographic pen-filler and dipped that -in the milk she had arranged and sucked some up, and squirted it out -into Blanch's mouth, and really got some in that way; but it was a slow -business, and poor Blanch used to hate being disturbed dreadfully. -She was too young to talk, but she used to get into a regular temper -sometimes and turn away her body with a scraping noise in her throat -that meant how disgusted she was with life and people trying to cure -her.</p> - -<p>She was an awfully pretty kitten. 'Oh, you <i>are</i> a beauty,' Auntie May -used to say, 'and I wish I could save you.'</p> - -<p>Blanch had been much more forward in some ways than the rest of us; -she had climbed all over Auntie May, and had a strong little back, and -could sit up and look grown up, though she was only three. Her fur was -nice too, a very much lighter grey than Zobeide's or mine, and her head -very broad, and the distance between her small ears very great.</p> - -<p>Her sick-basket was in a different part of the room from ours; <i>we</i> -could not, of course, get out to look at her, and I don't believe -mother ever did. Auntie May did not seem to expect her to. She always -told her how Blanch was, and mother used to say that Blanch was in -good hands, and that Auntie May could do what <i>she</i> could not do -for Blanch, feed her through stylographic pens, for instance. But -she always said that though it was very good of Auntie May to devote -herself so, she could not alter the result of Blanch's illness; no sick -kitten as young as that could possibly recover. If only it had learned -to feed itself, there would be a chance for it, and not much even then. -She was glad for our sakes that Auntie May had parted us; she believed -in the segregation of invalids. She had learned that hard long word in -the cattery.</p> - -<p>After two days the doctor came and looked at Blanch. He didn't take her -up.</p> - -<p>'This kitten is better!' he said in a surprised tone. 'It breathes more -freely. You may save it yet. If you want to apply for the post of nurse -for animals I'll recommend you, Miss Graham.'</p> - -<p>The day after that Blanch was so much better that Auntie May went to a -party which was given in a house near by. She was to be only two hours -away. She fed Blanch at nine, after she was dressed, kneeling down -beside her in her new pink dress. Having left Blanch quite comfortable, -and pretty well, hardly coughing at all, she went away singing down the -stairs. Rosamond was, of course, in bed. She went to bed at half-past -eight, and made a great fuss about it every night. We four went to -sleep. Mother liked the temperature kept at sixty degrees; <i>à quelque -chose malheur est bon</i>, she said, which means bad-luck is good for -something, and sent us to sleep with her soft purring.</p> - -<p>Punctually at eleven I was awakened by the swish of Auntie May's dress -on the stairs, and she came up followed by Mary, and the electric light -was turned full on.</p> - -<p>'Bring me my traps, Mary,' said Auntie May, and she sat down just as -she was and began to mix the water and sweetened hot milk. When she had -got it ready she leaned over the patient, and then called out.</p> - -<p>'Come here, Mary,' she said in a queer voice. 'This kitten is dying!'</p> - -<p>'The doctor said it was better, Miss.'</p> - -<p>'So it is better—its breathing is better—but it is dying all the -same. Look at its eyes!'</p> - -<p>'Just like my old aunt's died last June! Well, Miss, it's only a kitten -after all!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May held Blanch up in her two hands and looked at her. She gave -her her medicine and a little drop—a real drop, not what the cook -here calls a drop—of brandy, but Blanch let it all roll out of her -mouth and on to the pink gown. I knew that from what Mary said: 'Lor', -Miss, your nice gown!'</p> - -<p>'It's no good, Mary. Its eyes are glazing already. They look tormented. -We mustn't plague her any more. Bring Petronilla!'</p> - -<p>'How absurd!' said mother, as Mary lifted her out.</p> - -<p>Auntie May showed her Blanch, whom she had laid back in her bed. -Blanch's head had rolled quite uncomfortably back, and her eyes saw -nothing. She was almost gone.</p> - -<p>Mother didn't do at all what they expected, though; indeed, I don't -know whether they expected her to bring Blanch back from the grave in -some mysterious way that mothers ought to know of. Mother had no way. -She knew it was no good. To satisfy them she did something. She licked -and rolled Blanch over in her bed with her tongue—roughly, I suppose, -from the way they spoke.</p> - -<p>'She's killed it!' said Auntie May. 'Look, it's dead!'</p> - -<p>She took Blanch up, and Blanch's head fell back over her hand and a -film came over her eyes—so Auntie May said afterwards.</p> - -<p>Poor Auntie May put Blanch down again, and cried as if her heart would -break.</p> - -<p>'I nursed it—I took such care—and he said I had saved it, and no, -it's dead—oh!—oh!—'</p> - -<p>'Don't cry, Miss May, don't cry so,' Mary begged. 'It's only a kitten -at that. We'll bury it in the garden. It will be our first funeral; -there's a nice little place back of them trees, I've often thought -of it for that. Here, let me get you out of your dress. I'll put the -corpse in the bathroom till the morning. What'll ever your father think -if he hears you crying like this over a kitten, and wake Miss Rosamond, -too!'</p> - -<p>Then Auntie May stopped, because she wasn't selfish, and let Mary put -her to bed, and went to sleep very soon after. I asked mother if she -wouldn't mind telling me why she had licked Blanch so hard.</p> - -<p>'My dear child,' mother said, 'I daresay you and Auntie May consider me -very unfeeling, and think it very odd that she should do all the crying -instead of me; but then you must realise that I was never in favour of -nursing Blanch and trying to keep her alive. She was delicate and bound -to die sooner or later. It is a great mistake to try to preserve the -lives of kittens that are weak and feeble from the very beginning, -and no sensible cat would ever countenance such a proceeding. They do -as they choose with theirs, and a nice lot of invalids, cripples, and -criminals They raise up to make difficulties afterwards for them! As -a matter of fact, Blanch <i>was</i> cured of her illness, and I don't deny -any of the credit to Auntie May of having done it—I couldn't have done -it myself—but, as the doctor will tell her to-morrow, the child died -of heart-failure. I knew it would go like that. When they called me in -I had to do something for form's sake, and I licked her. Poor little -dear, we must forget about this closing scene of her very short career, -and try to grow up healthy ourselves. That I look upon as a cat's first -duty. You ask why? In the battle of life the weaklings must go under. -Now feed properly and don't choke, as you are sure to do if you are -greedy and in too much of a hurry.'</p> - -<p>Rosamond was told about Blanch next day, and she cried too. Fresh from -my mother's lecture I looked upon her almost with disgust. The silly -child talked of going into mourning, and, sure enough, she found an -old bit of black crape somewhere and sewed it on the arm of her frock. -I had no patience with her. We relations were, on the contrary, -forbidden to make any difference, and mother was even gay, though I -noticed a tear in her eyes sometimes when nobody was looking. I heard -Rosamond propose to bring poor Blanch, who by now, she said, had grown -quite stiff, to show to her mother for a last look before she was -buried; but, to mother's great relief, Mary had taken Blanch and buried -her before breakfast by Auntie May's orders.</p> - -<p>'Don't be morbid, my dear child!' Auntie May said, when Rosamond -complained of what Mary had done. 'I don't like any one to gloat over -funerals, much less children. You must forget Blanch, poor dear Blanch, -who made such a brave fight for her life, and remember that there are -four left.'</p> - -<p>So you see in the main she said the same thing as mother, which -convinces me, as I said before, that she knew a good deal about cats.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> - -<h3>TO LAP OR NOT TO LAP</h3> - - -<p>'It is time they were taught to lap!' said Auntie May.</p> - -<p>'Oh, Auntie May,' cried Rosamond, 'how dreadfully exciting! I was -wondering when you were going to begin that! It <i>will</i> be dreadfully -exciting, won't it?'</p> - -<p>'It will be dreadfully messy,' answered Auntie May. 'I must do it in an -old frock and my art pinafore.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Auntie May, I shall love to see you in a pinafore! You will look -like a big French doll—that one of mine that Kitty spoiled.'</p> - -<p>'Hush, don't speak ill of the absent. I daresay Kitty enjoyed the -destruction of Wilhelmina very much, as much as Petronilla liked -mumbling my white satin shoes last year. I forgave her. One must pay -for one's pets.'</p> - -<p>'And I forgave Kitty,' said Rosamond; 'besides, I am twelve now and -past dolls. When shall we begin to feed the kittens?'</p> - -<p>'Wait a bit!' mother said; but, of course, once having got the idea -into Their heads, they took no notice. Auntie May got the big pinafore -she had when she was an art student, out of a box, and put it on. Then -she fetched a tiny china spoon with forget-me-nots all over it, and -sent Rosamond down for some milk and some hot water. Then Rosamond and -she squatted down on the floor beside our bed, and mother eyed them -scornfully over the edge of it.</p> - -<p>'Now, you silly old Petronilla, we are going to relieve you of some -of your work. Four kittens are too much for you. You are beginning to -look rather fagged in spite of Beef-tea and Kreochyle and Hovis food. -Children, dear, you cost a pretty penny.'</p> - -<p>These were the names of some of the messes They were continually -bringing up in saucers and planting out by mother's bedside, and which -she hopped out and licked up and came back again saying that Auntie May -had a feeling heart and that she adored her, since, as every one ought -to know, the way to a cat's heart is through its stomach, whatever may -be the cause of affection afterwards. And mother did love Auntie May -quite desperately much, and Auntie May could always see it in her eyes, -though mother was not otherwise demonstrative.</p> - -<p>Well, as I was saying, they managed to unhitch Fred's claws and mouth, -and laid him in Auntie May's lap, and put the point of the little china -spoon in between his teeth. He sputtered and choked, and he seemed to -have a white beard when they let him alone again.</p> - -<p>'He isn't taking any this time!' said Auntie May. There were white -streams wandering through the rucks of her pinafore.</p> - -<p>'Of course he is not taking any of your extraordinary preparation,' -said mother. 'You are in too great a hurry to have him lap. He won't do -it a moment before he is ready, and that will be when I decide to begin -to wean him. You can try every day and you won't do him any harm, but -you will only wet your pinafore.'</p> - -<p>It was quite true. We none of us felt as if we could touch Auntie May's -mixture, we so very much preferred mother's. Auntie May put us all back -again, and stood up and shook herself, and the milk we hadn't taken ran -down the creases of her pinafore on to the floor. They both went -away, and Rosamond, as she went out of the door, recommended mother to -tidy it by licking it up, partly in joke—at least mother took it that -way, for, as she said, she was not a common cat, to eat up slops, and -they would have to send Mary to wash it away with a cloth.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus1"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>THE MILK RAN DOWN THE CREASES TO THE FLOOR.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Next morning They tried us again, but still we couldn't, and Rosamond -seemed so terribly disappointed that we asked mother to tell us how it -was done.</p> - -<p>'You have to put your tongue over the milk and catch some of it up in -the curve of it, and flick it into your throat in the same movement. -That's all there is!'</p> - -<p>'And quite enough,' sighed lazy Freddy.</p> - -<p>'Dogs do it differently,' mother continued. 'They put their tongue -<i>under</i> the milk or water, or whatever it is they want to drink, but -they toss it into their mouths in precisely the same way.'</p> - -<p>'I shall never do it,' poor Zobeide complained. 'You will have to nurse -me all my days, mother.'</p> - -<p>'You great fat podge!' I said. (Zobeide was very roundabout.) 'Mother -can't nurse you when you are taken away from her and sold, as you are -sure to be. Then you will get thinner and thinner, till you starve, -unless they feed you with a stylographic penholder, like poor Blanch; -but she was an invalid.'</p> - -<p>'Don't jar, children,' mother said, 'but give your minds to business. -To-morrow, when they begin teaching you again, don't sputter so much, -but try and make a start. It comes all at once, and once gained you -never lose the art. You try and you seem no nearer, and suddenly—you -find you can do it! Now I will tell you as a fact that I shan't be -able to feed you exclusively for much longer. I don't know about -looking fagged, but I certainly begin to feel it. I can't, for all the -trouble I take, keep my coat as nice as I should like to, and that is -a sure sign that the fatigue is beginning to tell on me. Four great -kittens! They ought to have got a foster-mother—and I should not have -liked that altogether! But I tell you that the time has come when you -must all try to reinforce me and supplement what I can give you from -extraneous sources.' Mother did use nice long words.</p> - -<p>So next day, when they brought the whole set-out, I thought I would -really have a good try, and I swallowed down the spoonful of milk -without sputtering. But <i>that</i> wasn't lapping, mother called loudly -from the bed. I was stung by that, so when Auntie May put a little milk -in a very flat saucer and ducked my head in it, I stayed in a minute -and worked my tongue about. When I could positively bear it no longer, -I came up again spitting and sputtering, not a drop of milk having -gone down my throat. But I found that if she didn't roughly shove my -head in, but let me bend over the saucer myself, and not go deep in, -but skim about on the top, I could manage to flick up a little; though -perhaps I only fancied I had done that, from the milk that got on to -the fur about my mouth. It really was not at all bad stuff. Auntie May -still went on putting the point of the little spoon down my throat, and -I got a certain amount of milk into me that way, and wasn't so hungry -afterwards. Fred, I must say, had no perseverance. He sulked and tossed -his head, jibbed, as Auntie May called it, and would have nothing to -say to the spoon; while as for the saucer, he walked straight across -that and out on the other side. <i>I</i> couldn't do the things Freddy does; -he has a 'cheek,' Auntie May says, and Rosamond says he is like Kitty, -whom I have never seen, but, judging from all they say of her, she must -be the naughtiest kitten in Yorkshire. When Freddy has walked right -through the saucer and is all whitened, he sits down and drinks the -milk off his toes, showing that he knows quite well it is meant to eat, -not to bathe in, and, as Auntie May says, simply defies her.</p> - -<p>The bad example of my brother made me somehow determine I would -accomplish lapping, and, sure enough, next day I did. You should have -heard the noise They all made!</p> - -<p>'Loki can do it! Loki has done it! He's lapped three laps! He is -getting some into his mouth! He has lapped first! Hooray! Bravo, Loki!'</p> - -<p>I heard Them, but I did not look round till I had lapped right down to -the pattern on the saucer. Then I raised my head proudly. Everything -looked quite different now somehow. I felt another kitten. Yet nothing -really was changed. Rosamond's moonface was as round as ever, Auntie -May was still sitting there with her apron full of great pools where -Fred and Zobeide and Admiral Togo had let it run down out of the -corners of their mouths, mother was purring away and looking at us all -with her great big mournful eyes.</p> - -<p>In less than a week I was no better or cleverer than everybody else. -The others could do it too, but they hated the bother of it. The other -way is really so much more convenient. And mother prefers it; she says -that it brings us together. She says:</p> - -<p>'As long as I nurse you children, I shall be devoted to you. I shall -cosset you and shield you and watch over you, and get miserable if you -are in a draught or let people handle you or tease you, and so on; but -once you can look after yourselves, it will be a very different pair of -paws, I warn you! That is cat rule all the world over. I shall not, I -hope, be actually unkind, but I shall take the very slightest notice of -you. Out of the nursery, out of mind. Lost to sight, to memory you will -not be dear, for if I allowed myself to become unduly fond of any one -of my children, how could I bear to have that child taken from me? One -has to steel oneself. They under whom we live are responsible, though, -perhaps, in a state of nature, in that jungle of which I have visions -and of which I dream at night as if it were my kingdom, it would be the -same—I cannot tell.'</p> - -<p>We all said politely, 'Oh, mother, I am sure you would never be -unkind,' but indeed afterwards we found she spoke quite truly. She -could not help it; it was the way she was made. Cats have the softest -outsides, but the hardest hearts of all animals. Later on, nobody -would have known that she was my mother from the way she bullied -me, and let out with her paws when I passed her sometimes, without -the slightest warning, and didn't seem to care when I hurt myself -at all. There was the time when I was ill and fed out of that very -forget-me-not spoon that ought to have stirred up tender recollections. -I bit a piece out of that spoon in a fit of temper one day when I felt -particularly bad, and was in a blue rage in consequence. I damaged the -spoon, of course, as mother pointed out, but I hurt myself far more. I -bled, and the spoon did not. It had a rivet put in it and was as well -as ever again.</p> - -<p>I felt mother's unkindness very much, and it was of a piece with many -other bits of her conduct. I have got over it now; indeed, I have had -my revenge if I had wanted it, when I saw her making a slave of herself -over another lot of kittens just as she had done over us. She began -to be grateful to me then, for I made myself useful taking her place -in the basket sometimes, and keeping the little wretches warm while -she took a turn and stretched her legs, and went to look if Auntie May -had been given or had bought anything new. Mother always took notice -of that sort of thing; nothing new that came into the house ever -escaped her for long. She even knew when Mr. Graham was engaged on a -different picture, at least he said she did. She used to stand on her -hind legs and plant her fore paws on the ledge of the easel and look -at the painting he was doing quite gravely. The artist himself was -certain that she knew, and he used to tickle her neck with his brush -or his mahl-stick and say, 'Well, Petronilla, do you approve of my new -subject?' That is how mother ascertained that it <i>was</i> new, for if he -had covered all the canvas up, without leaving one little weeny corner -white, how on earth could a poor cat tell? While she was away on these -voyages of discovery, I curled round the kittens, and they liked me for -about ten minutes till they found I was not their mother. I could not -feed them, only wash them, and that I did very nicely and thoroughly, -so that mother said when she came back that she could not have done it -better herself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus2"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>SHE USED TO STAND ON HER HIND LEGS AND LOOK AT THE PAINTING.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>But this state of things was not until much later; for the present -we four were the kittens of the hour, and she petted us, and was the -dearest, sweetest little mother in the world.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> - -<h3>THE SCHOOLROOM</h3> - - -<p>We soon could do more than lap, we could eat things. Auntie May and -Rosamond had a chafing-dish, and they used to cook all sorts of messes -in it for us and for mother, who was very fussy about her food, and -took dislikes to the most ordinary things. For instance, porridge -she would not touch, or cod-liver oil biscuits, while Hovis food, or -Horlick's, or a sardine put her out of her mind with delight. They say -that a sardine will sometimes bring a dying cat back to life. They -burnt methylated spirit in the chafing-dish, and the first time I -saw the sly curling flame winding up among Auntie May's new novel, I -confess I was frightened. But mother reassured us; she said if I looked -attentively I would see that it was a very obedient flame, and would -go straight up into the air and do no harm unless they interrupted it. -She gave it a wide berth herself, and hoped we would do the same when -we began to be able to get out of our basket and walk about. Auntie -May and Rosamond were not so very careful, for once when they thought -the spirit was getting low, Rosamond took the whole bottle and poured -some more on. Huh! it took fire, and she dropped it pretty quick, and -it broke, and there were three separate burning pools on the floor. -Mother put a paw over us all, though we could not have got out of the -bed even if we had wanted to, and gripped Freddy by the neck, ready to -lift him out if it should be necessary. Luckily Auntie May was there, -and there was a large flowerpot full of earth in the room. She tilted -out the flower, head over roots, and poured the earth on the burning -pools, instead of the water which Rosamond had torn off to the bathroom -to get. It was soon out, and the poor child got a scolding and a lesson -in chemistry from her grandpapa.</p> - -<p>They had not got proper things to work with, mother said. They had no -spoon, but used to stir up the mixture with the butt-end of one of -Auntie May's pens. When it was ready, they would pour it out into any -piece of china that was handy—Japanese pots and plates that cost a -fortune, so I was told. Then they washed them up in the bath, and we -used to hear this sort of thing: 'Mind that cloisonné, Rosamond!' or, -'That is a bit of Persian four-mark you have chipped, I do believe!' -But it was no matter, they got a new bit out of the studio. Mr. Graham -was a collector, and nothing was too good for the cats.</p> - -<p>Up to now, none of us had ever succeeded in getting out of the bed by -ourselves. We were lifted out by them to walk about a little, keeping -our stomachs off the ground with great difficulty. Our legs had a -strange tendency to slip away beyond us, 'doing splits' as they do in -the pantomime—so Auntie May called our way of getting ourselves along. -When at last we did succeed in keeping our legs at right angles to our -bodies, we wobbled sadly, and longed to be put back again among the -hay. But at times, when we weren't eating or sleeping, but thoroughly -awake, and there wasn't much doing in the old dull bed, we used to -try to get out of it. We three boys used to make a ladder of Zobeide, -and, propping ourselves up on her, get over the edge in a jerk, but at -first we could only one of us look over, and then Zobeide would meanly -crumble away under us, and pitch us all head-over-heels into the bed -again. She took an unfair advantage, too, and bit our hind legs.</p> - -<p>One day, however, I managed to climb up without the help of Zobeide, -till my paws rested on the top of the basket, and I was screwing up -my hind legs till they came nearly up to join the front ones, when -somebody—I believe it was Rosamond—gave the after-part of me a push -and I came over on to the floor on my nose, which, luckily, is flat, -not Roman. I rose unsteadily, and walked away like one in a dream. I -think I must have walked right out of the door and into the bathroom. -Rosamond was behind me, and I had a sort of feeling that I would like -to run away from her—a feeling that I have had many a time since with -nearly all of Them. It was because she was behind me. Now if she had -been in front I should have longed to pass her, and then turn round and -jeer at her. But as it was, Run! Run! was my motto, and into a corner -for preference. I chose a corner, and squeezed myself in behind some -old boxes in the bathroom. They must have been very full of dust, for -I sneezed twice and so told Rosamond where I was, and she put a great -hand like a house in and caught hold of me.</p> - -<p>'Naughty little thing!' she said. That was the first hint I had that -They expect us to stay beside them and not run away. I took the hint; -at least, I was good enough to stop running away sometimes, when she -said my name very decidedly. You never know what They may have in -their hands to make it worth your while to stop; as often as not it is -something to eat. Rosamond put me back in the box, and mother cleaned -me for half-an-hour quite unnecessarily, saying, 'My children shall be -kept unspotted from the world as far as I can manage it, for the world -is very dirty.'</p> - -<p>She is indeed most particular. She washed off the marks of people's -hands carefully wherever they had touched us. It looks rude, I think, -to see a cat, the moment it has been kindly stroked, turn round and -begin to lick the stain away. Rosamond said it is just as if she took -out her pocket-handkerchief after grandpapa had kissed her, and wiped -her cheek with it.</p> - -<p>We could all get out of our bed now. In fact, we would not stay in, -except for sleeping and eating (mother still fed us a little, so as -to let us down easy). We were all over the place, and the door of the -study had to be always kept shut. Rosamond said that being cat-maid -was much harder than lessons at home, for she could keep Fraülein in -order, but she could not keep us.</p> - -<p>'I <i>can't</i> keep them in,' she complained to her grandpapa. 'I collect -them all in my pinafore and drop them all into bed, and out they ooze -in a moment like so many india-rubber balls! Fred especially is a -<i>fiend</i>. He is in to everything. He is outside everything. He touches -everything—licks it mostly. I am glad to say that he burnt his nose -badly the other day on the electric radiator. He won't touch that again -in a hurry!'</p> - -<p>No, that he won't! He singed off a bit of his whiskers, and we all -laughed at him awfully. He was a queer little cat, not a bit like -Zobeide or Togo. <i>We</i> never wanted to fight, but he lay down in a -corner of the bed and said, 'Come on, you!' Then Zobeide or I took a -hand, and he knocked us down and drove the straws into our eyes. Mother -punished him by taking him in her arms and kicking him with her hind -legs, but he bit her face and she had to leave off. When we packed -ourselves to go to sleep, mother happening to be away, we always made a -sort of cross, lying over each other for warmth, and Freddy always took -the top, out of his turn, and having so much the biggest head, always -managed to get his own way. We three others hoped that the first one -of us Auntie May sold or gave away would be Fred, but nothing was said -about that. Auntie May bought a ball with a jingle in it for us all, -she distinctly said so, but Fred always assumed that it was his ball, -and he went so far as to claw the jingle out of it, saying that it -amused him quite as much without. We never got a chance of playing with -that ball unless Auntie May happened to leave her house shoes in the -room, and then Fred said we might take the ball, for he didn't get a -chance of real leather to gnaw every day.</p> - -<p>Altogether he was a terror, and Mary used to say she would like to -wring his neck. That didn't frighten Fred; he knew she wouldn't do -anything of the kind, and he went on jumping on to the back of her -neck, and getting among the ashes when she was lighting the fire and -being swept up by mistake, and plopping on to paper parcels, and eating -coals, and needles, and buttons, and corks, and working off a hundred -wicked tricks he had invented.</p> - -<p>You see, Fred never would attend to mother's lectures when we were left -quite alone in the room, and she told us all the little catly rules -that we should have to guide our conduct by when we left her. Some of -them, she said, were traditional, going back to the days beyond the -dawn of history, when cats were worshipped. She said we must never -forget that great fact, never allow ourselves to lose sight of it, but -let it regulate all our conduct and our relations towards Them. They -no longer worship us, though they are kind to us. They have perhaps -forgotten, but we need not. Therefore we must be gentle, obedient, -subservient to Them, but with a reservation. We should, if we thought -proper, come to their call, but never with vulgar alacrity. She thought -it the highest possible praise of a cat to have said of him, as Auntie -May had once said of a friend's cat, 'The more he is called, the more -he doesn't come.' We should find time to sit down on the way and make -pretence to attend to our personal appearance, or what not. We might -suffer Them to hold us in their arms, but not in inconvenient or -indecorous positions, such as upside down, or round their necks like a -boa, or pretending we are wheelbarrows, and so on. She said They—the -more punctilious of Them—have a way of holding a cat up by the loose -skin of its neck, that being considered the least uncomfortable one to -us personally. Quite a mistake, she said; they only think so because -we do not usually protest—how can we, when the skin is strained so -tightly over our throats as to preclude all attempt at conversation? -The only proper way to hold a cat is to take both hands to it and -support the lower limbs, instead of letting the whole weight of the -body depend from the shoulders or the paws. She told us how to open a -door, if it was left ever so little ajar. That is to walk up it—about -two good steps will do. If it is shut, the handle should be turned; -but that needs special aptitudes. Then if we mew passionately before -a closed door and it is opened for us, we should not go in, as would -naturally occur to an undisciplined cat to do, but sit down at a -distance and lick our face, so as to show we do not really care about -it.</p> - -<p>She told us the proper way to lie down—never at once, but after having -described two or three circles. The right thing to do is to turn round -and round, brushing our fur the right way till we are more or less in -the form of a ball. Then, and not till then, we may definitely lie down -with an expression of contentment if we feel like it. We are to imagine -ourselves making a nest in some very high grass, beating it down all -round us to form a bed before we can settle in for the night. Then we -must tuck our heads in symmetrically, and safely too, taking care to -keep one eye free, ready to open and see what is going on, and an ear -cocked to hear strange or unusual sounds. That kind of high long grass -was, she said, called jungle grass, and our ancestors long ago, in the -time before they were worshipped, lived in the jungle and ran wild -there. The worshipping came afterwards.</p> - -<p>She taught us humility, too. When we heard the strays howling outside -in the square garden, too weak to catch birds for their food perhaps, -and begging a morsel or a cup of milk from door to door, we were to -pause in our own feeding and think, 'This cat's ancestors were probably -kings, like mine. I must not be stuck-up.'</p> - -<p>Sometimes even Fred would leave off roaming and sitting away by -himself, thinking over and planning some new bit of mischief to do, and -come back to bed and take the warm place that Zobeide had made, and beg -mother to tell us about 'Dirty Whitey' of the underground. We had all -heard it many a time, but it was a nice story.</p> - -<p>Mother had seen her once the time she was in the underground at Notting -Hill Gate with Auntie May, and Auntie May had said:</p> - -<p>'Oh, bother, there's that wretched cat again! It makes me quite sick to -see it playing about between the rails.'</p> - -<p>She was waiting for her train, and a nice porter was standing near her, -and he said:</p> - -<p>'Bless you, Miss, she knows her way better nor any of us. She takes a -little walk to High Street, Kensington, now and again, and comes back -quite safe and sound. She bringed up a family of kittens there in the -tunnel and never a one was hurt. But I don't doubt myself she'll get -copped some day!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May said she thought so too, and she walked along to the other -end of the platform to avoid seeing the white cat crossing the line -just out of bravado as the train was coming in. When her own train -came along, she said she felt as if that cat would be under it and be -cut in bits. But it wasn't, for she saw it again a week later, and -told mother. Then quite a month later she came in and told mother that -'Dirty Whitey' had been 'copped' at last.</p> - -<p>'Whitey' had been chasing a rat across the metals when a train was -just coming in, and professional pride had forbidden her to let go. -So the train had cut off her head with the tail of that rat in her -mouth—at least, so the porter had told Auntie May. We loved that -story, and, as I have said, even Freddy used to come and listen when -mother began to tell it to us.</p> - -<p>Zobeide liked the story of the cat that walked all the way to London -after its master, who was very meanly moving house and had intended not -to take the family cat. Instinct, mother said. It seemed to work both -ways, for another cat was brought in a covered basket away from the -house it had been born in to one a hundred miles away in quite another -part of the country. It never saw anything, for it had been packed up -in the room in the first house, and the basket was not undone till they -had got into a room in the other and shut the door. No matter, for that -cat was not to be beaten. It just went straight up the chimney and home -again. It evidently loved places better than people, Zobeide remarked.</p> - -<p>'It is generally the way,' mother would answer, 'but <i>I</i> happen to love -Auntie May, and where <i>she</i> is, is home to me. I'm not sure I even -believe those stories. I know that I should be puzzled to find my -way back to Egerton Gardens, even if I wanted to! Probably if I once -started, the gods of my ancestors would endow me with a sixth sense and -show me the way.'</p> - -<p>Admiral Togo always asked for the Whittington story and got it, but I -didn't care for it. I liked the story of the cat that told the people -of the house that the basement was on fire, by running into their -bedroom with her coat all smouldering where a hot splinter had fallen -on it, and the Pied Piper of Hamelin. That was all about rats, as it -happened, but no matter, it made my mouth water.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> - -<h3>ONE LESS THAN FOUR</h3> - - -<p>We all had a most terrible shock. Waking up from our afternoon sleep, -we found that instead of being four, we were only three. Admiral Togo -had gone. Mother had been asleep too, but she missed Togo first, and -went routing about among us to make quite sure.</p> - -<p>'I can't surely have mislaid him,' we heard her muttering. 'Or is it -what I fear?'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps he has got over the edge of the bed into the great world,' -said Zobeide, 'and is hiding somewhere to tease us.'</p> - -<p>'Possibly,' mother said gently. She jumped out of bed, and looked all -over the room and into every corner. She called gently to Togo once or -twice, using a special pet name of her own, and she was still wandering -about when Rosamond came up with mother's dinner. She saw the state of -affairs at once.</p> - -<p>'Aha, old girl, looking for your kitten?' she said. 'Can't find Togo, -eh?'</p> - -<p>It struck me as suspicious that she knew which of us mother was seeking -without looking into the basket. Mother answered quite crossly, 'No, -nothing in particular.' She didn't want Rosamond to know that she -valued Togo, or any kitten that ever was born.</p> - -<p>'Well, then, dear Pet, I must tell you. Togo was getting too old to run -about with women and children, and he has had his curls cut off, and -been packed off to a preparatory school!'</p> - -<p>'Tsha!' mother spat angrily. She didn't choose to be chaffed by a -child. 'School! I am not going to be put off with a cock-and-bull story -like that.'</p> - -<p>But she couldn't keep it up for very long. She did really care what had -become of Admiral Togo, and she hung her head and dropped her tail and -tried to get behind the door.</p> - -<p>'Poor Petronilla! You seem very much distressed!' observed Auntie May, -coming in just then, and kindly lifting mother up, and putting her back -with us. 'But you are a sensible cat—I never knew a sensibler—and -you have been through this kind of thing before. Cheer up! You have -three left.'</p> - -<p>'And I wonder how long I shall have them?' mother muttered. 'You are -making pretty quick work with them. You have killed one, and now you -have sold the other—'</p> - -<p>Her bitterness made her unjust, because Auntie May didn't kill Blanch, -though she certainly had sold Admiral Togo, for what Rosamond said next -showed it.</p> - -<p>'May I go and see Togo?'</p> - -<p>'You may. I am sure Mrs. Dillon will have no objection, but don't -imagine for a moment that Togo will be glad to see <i>you</i>. Cats have -hardly any memories, and kittens none at all. And a good thing too, for -treated as chattels as they are they would have wretched lives of it. -<i>They</i> don't listen to the rain upon the roof and think of other days, -or have tears come into their eyes when they look at sunsets because -they feel so ancient—'</p> - -<p>'Why, Auntie May, you are talking like an old cat, while you are only a -young woman. You aren't <i>very</i> old—not <i>more</i> than thirty, are you?'</p> - -<p>'That is just the most miserable age,' said Auntie May; 'when I am -forty I shall be as cheerful as—old boots!' She actually wiped a tear -away as she spoke. 'Good gracious me, Pet is simply murdering Freddy! -Drop it—drop it!'</p> - -<p>'Please don't interfere!' mother said, as well as she could speak with -her mouth full of Freddy. 'If you only knew what he had been up to this -afternoon you would be obliged to me, I can tell you! You will miss It -presently, and wonder where it has got to. But I'll make the boy tell -me where it is, and put it back too, before I have done with him!'</p> - -<p>She gave it to Fred well, but she spared his pride and never told -<i>us</i> where he had put Auntie May's opera-glasses. She hit very hard -herself, but she never allowed us to lay a paw on each other, except -in kindness. She was so afraid of our hurting each other, like Uncle -Tomyris, who pulled out Uncle Ra's left eye once in a cattery brawl.</p> - -<p>'They got Professor Hobday to come and fit him with an artificial one. -They really did, word of an honest cat!' mother said. She told us some -other things that the Professor did, such as bandaging a cat's broken -arm and putting it in splints, also false teeth, but that was a dog, I -think, and it was worth about three hundred pounds. No cat that ever -was born was worth that, mother says, but it is They who settle what we -are all to cost, and They might be mistaken. They have agreed that cats -are inferior to dogs; you may be as silly as you like about a dog, and -even believe he has got a soul if you like, but a cat!—'My dear, it's -too absurd!'</p> - -<p>I hear this kind of thing in the drawing-room on Auntie May's at-home -day, when we are often carried downstairs in a basket and allowed to -play about and amuse the people. One hears a good deal. People who -don't like cats think that Auntie May makes a perfect fool of herself -about us. Once when Auntie May was persuaded to bring us down, to -please a Mrs. Wheeler, I heard, with my own big ears, Mrs. Wheeler -begin her sentence one way and finish it another.</p> - -<p>'Lovely creatures, so beautiful in the firelight, when the light -catches their outside fur and makes it shine like silver—' (Then -Auntie May moved off and she went on) 'Poor, dear May! She is a bit -of a bore with her cats, don't you think so? Do you notice how she -always brings the conversation round to them in the end? It is a great -mistake. She will be an old maid, it's a sure sign! Look at her now -with a saucer on the floor and those three cats making a Manx penny -all round it, and a nice man wanting to talk to her, and can't get a -word from her! He looks disgusted, and no wonder!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May didn't really keep us downstairs very long, and the nice -man, as it happened, carried us up for her to her study, and put us all -back in our basket, and stayed up talking with her quite a long time, -and talking about Mrs. Wheeler, the very woman who had been abusing -Auntie May for loving us so.</p> - -<p>'She's a cat, that's what she is!' the nice man said, and Auntie May -agreed, which was rather insulting to us. I am, however, not quite sure -whether he didn't say a <i>d</i> instead of a <i>t</i>, which with them makes -quite a different word.</p> - -<p>Presently they said it was June, and the weather got beautiful. Auntie -May thought we ought to take the air in the garden, and be allowed to -run about on the grass. Rosamond was overjoyed, and so were we, at -first. Then we began to get frightened. There was absolutely nothing on -the top of us except the sky and the sun. I missed the nice sheltering -bed and the cosy walls of the room we had lived in always. I felt as -if the top of my skull had been taken off. I saw nothing to hide -under either, except black poles that simply ran up straight into the -blue. The sun was very hot, too, and I suppose I looked wretched, for -suddenly Rosamond said:</p> - -<p>'I do believe Loki has got a sunstroke, like Kitty had last year. His -poor little head is so hot—feel!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May was in such a fright that she bundled us all into the house.</p> - -<p>Next day, when the sun was not quite so hot, she took us out again and -we soon got used to it. Sometimes she chose me alone and took me on -a lead and held the loop of it while she worked. She wrote on great -white sheets of paper that the wind got under and tried to blow away. -She told me to make myself useful and be a paperweight, but then when -I sat on the freshly-written sheets it spread the ink all about and -she did not seem to like that. At last the wind went down and she got -interested and forgot me entirely. Rosamond sneaked the end of the lead -out of her hand when she was not looking and held it; it seemed to give -her the greatest pleasure to hold me in. It is odd how that child likes -managing people, and positively begs for responsibility. Well, she took -it this time, and a nice mess she made of it!</p> - -<p>She opened her hand as she got interested in her book, and I simply -walked away with the lead bobbling after me. I liked responsibility too.</p> - -<p>Suddenly I saw a dog coming towards me—I knew it was a dog from the -one that was embroidered on the child's crawler we had to lie on at -home. He was black, coarse-furred, with small mean eyes, and a fringe -that kept tumbling into them. He approached me. I did not like to turn, -or cringe, or look afraid, but I felt my tail stiffening and my claws -sliding out all ready, by no will of my own. There was an odd feeling -in my back too. I knew as well as if you had told me that I should be -rude and spit at him if he came nearer.</p> - -<p>He did. I spat. He barked. Still Auntie May didn't leave off putting -her pencil in her mouth and writing with it. Then my mood changed. I -felt I should like to leave that dog—I wanted not to be where it was. -After all I was only a kitten, and I turned round slowly and walked in -the direction of Auntie May.</p> - -<p>He came prancing after me. I ran. He ran. The lead was most awfully in -my way. I went straight past Auntie May in my nervousness, and up one -of the straight black poles that seemed to lead up to Heaven—out of -that dog's way, at any rate. It was a tree, so I heard after. Perhaps -he could climb too—I didn't know! It was an instinct. The loop of -the lead lay along the ground, and the idiotic puppy, as he must have -been, hadn't the sense to hang on to it and drag me down. I think it -was pretty clever of me to climb my first tree handicapped and shackled -like that. Auntie May heard his short, sharp, cross barks, and came -running and caught hold of the end of the lead to prevent me from going -any higher up. Some people called off the puppy, and then, and not till -then, did I allow myself to come down on to her shoulder, which she -obligingly held under the exact bit of tree I was on.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus3"> - <img src="images/illus3.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>OUT OF THAT DOG'S WAY AT ANY RATE.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>It was much easier to go up than to come down. Perhaps I was excited -then and made light of difficulties, but still mother told me that it -was always the same way with her. Cats should look before they climb.</p> - -<p>I scratched Auntie May's nose terribly for her as I came down, and it -bled and had to be bathed. She was most kind about it.</p> - -<p>'Never mind, darling, it won't matter. I am an ugly thing anyway, and -I have <i>only</i> got to be presented at Court to-morrow! Just a little -unimportant occasion of that kind.'</p> - -<p>'Can't you explain to the Queen,' said Rosamond, 'that your cat -scratched you? I have always heard she is so very kind.'</p> - -<p>'No, I shan't worry her with explanations,' said Auntie May; 'only -soldiers' scratches are worth talking about. Let us go in.'</p> - -<p>Mother lectured me when she heard of my adventure. 'You should not have -run,' she said, 'with that great heavy lead and all. If he had had the -spirit of a flea he would have broken your back for you. You should not -have shown it him; you should have stopped still and gone for his nose. -That hurts, and he knows it. He would have run away from you the moment -you raised your paw. Remember!'</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> - -<h3>THE FIRST JOURNEY</h3> - - -<p>At the end of July Rosamond was taken home by somebody who was -travelling up to Yorkshire. Her mother was not very well and wanted -her. In fact, for the whole of August Auntie May was always worrying -about Beatrice, Rosamond's mother, who was her twin-sister. She said -she couldn't quite make out from Beatrice's letters what was the matter -with her, or if it was serious or no, and though she paid several -visits to big country houses in August she did not enjoy them. We were -left to the care of Mary, who was becoming a very excellent cat's-maid, -and so mother told Auntie May whenever she came home, and that, -although she never could love Mary as much as she loved Auntie May, she -had not wanted for anything during her absence.</p> - -<p>At last Beatrice's letters got so scanty and muddly that Auntie -May said she must go and see her and find out for herself. So she -telegraphed to Tom, her brother-in-law, that she was going down to -Crook Hall on Thursday, whether they wanted her or not.</p> - -<p>The answer came back, and puzzled Auntie May very much:</p> - -<p>'<i>Do—want—you—bring—kitten.</i>'</p> - -<p>'<i>Bring kitten?</i> Why should I? Beatrice doesn't want to keep kittens -because she has so many dogs. What can it mean? This is some game of -Rosamond's, I'll be bound. I'll <i>not</i> take a kitten.'</p> - -<p>But the more she thought over it, the more she felt that Tom wouldn't -have put <i>Bring Kitten</i> unless he wanted one. He is a man who doesn't -talk any more than he need, and it was he who had sent the telegram off -himself. Beatrice wanted the kitten for some reason or other, there was -not a doubt of it, or Tom wanted Beatrice to have a kitten. She began -to think she <i>would</i> take a kitten.</p> - -<p>'I will take the strongest,' she said. 'Petronilla, which do you -consider your strongest kitten?'</p> - -<p>Mother answered, 'Frederick B. Nicholson, as you call him,' but of -course Auntie May couldn't understand her. She sat down by the basket, -where we still spent most of our time, and talked to us about ourselves.</p> - -<p>'Freddy's nose is too long—makes him rather snipe-faced—but his paws -are broad and magnificent, and his eyes golden. Zobeide, your tail is -a weeny-weeny bit too thin and drawn out at the tip, and your ears too -pointed and long. You, Loki, have got a tolerably neat little chubby -face of your own, but your ears are not tufted, and your nose, if you -were human, would be an impertinent snub. Still, you are going to be -a fluffy cat, one can see that, and invalids—if poor Beatrice really -is an invalid—prefer fluffiness. I think I'll take you, Loki. No, -Fred, not you, indeed, you pertinacious darling, for you always go for -one's eyes, you are such a dangerous cat, without a single atom of -self-control. So, Loki, you may as well say goodbye to your mother and -make the most of her, for she just won't know you when you come back. -Get him ready for me, Petronilla, by to-morrow morning, will you?'</p> - -<p>'So Beatrice is an invalid!' said mother, after she had gone. 'It is -bad for you, my child. But now listen attentively to your mother, and -perhaps she may tell you how to avoid any bad effects. If they put you -on the patient's bed, keep as near the foot as you can; don't lie near -her or take her breath. I always believe in giving invalids a very wide -berth. I remember once that my old mistress, Miss Jane Beverley, was -very ill, and I had kept away as much as I could. She did not want me -either; she didn't <i>really</i> love cats. One day, however, I was curious -to know how she was going on and I ventured into her sick-room, though -it was a foolish thing to do. From what I observed myself, I concluded -that she was on the high road to recovery. We know better than They do. -It is the air that blows from people that are not going to get better -that tells us about it. No such airs came from her. I leaped on to the -bed and went right up to her face and stroked her chin. You should have -heard her old nurse:</p> - -<p>'"Bless us, ma'am," she almost screamed, "you're going to get well. The -cat's taken to you again!"</p> - -<p>'She was an unusually skilled nurse to know this principle that is so -strong in cats, and let her judgment be swayed by it.'</p> - -<p>'And did Miss Beverley get well?' asked Zobeide.</p> - -<p>'Of course—till next time. They die, you know, like us, in the end.'</p> - -<p>Next morning came, and Auntie May was very sad and serious. I believe -she was quite frightened about her sister. She had a basket lined, with -torn-up bits of paper in it, brought in for me, and at the very last -moment I was put into it by Mary. Mother came and sniffed at me as I -lay inside, and advised me not to go and get all the skin off my face -trying to pick at the walls of the basket to open it, but lie still and -try to sleep, and eat a little grass the first chance I got on arriving -at Crook Hall.</p> - -<p>Then Mary came back into the room hastily. They have got so into the -habit of telling us things that she said to mother as she took me up, -'Cab's at the door!' She carried me down, and I suppose it was Auntie -May who took hold of me, for I heard Mr. Graham kiss her several times, -and I suppose he wouldn't kiss Mary, though he says she is a very good -servant. We went out of the door, for I felt the rush of fresh air -against the sides of the basket, and I sniffed, and then I felt so -terribly strange that I am ashamed to say I did give one long 'Miau!' -as I was carried across the pavement to the cab. I saw nothing, of -course, but mother had explained to me all the probable stages of my -journey.</p> - -<p>There began the strangest, weirdest series of noises I had ever heard -then, though I have, I am sorry to say, heard them many a time since. -Howling, rushing, grating, bumping, rolling, trotting, whistling, -screeching, hitting—and spitting, if I may say so. We seemed to be -always going up and down stairs. I mewed a few small mews, and Auntie -May spoke to me through the walls of the basket and said, 'Hush! hush!' -very gently, and I hushed, and only grunted to inform her how I felt.</p> - -<p>Then at last all was still, except for a curious rushing noise that -never stopped. The rocking motion that went with it was very pleasant -and soothing, and made one feel quite stupid. Suddenly I felt Auntie -May's hand slide into the basket, which I licked and lay down against. -I was quite easy in my mind after that, but getting more and more -stupefied every minute. Presently she opened the lid of the basket and -I sat up and looked about.</p> - -<p>We seemed to be in a small, plain, unfurnished house, with nothing in -it but seats and a hat-rack. A large man, far bigger than Auntie May's -little papa, was sitting opposite her and reading a sheet of enormous -printed paper. In the other corner was a lacy black woman. When the -basket was opened she jumped and frightened me, and Auntie May said, -'Sit still, nervous little cat!'</p> - -<p>'Oh, what a darling!' the woman exclaimed. 'May I just touch it?' She -did touch me, but Auntie May held my hind paws firmly down in the -basket. She needn't have bothered, I don't go to strangers.</p> - -<p>'Mightn't he jump out? Aren't you awfully nervous about him?' cackled -the black woman. 'Isn't he a sweet colour? He is like that new grey -pastel shade they brought out in Paris last year. Teuf-Teuf, they -called it—something to do with the automobiles? Why don't you call him -Teuf-Teuf? Such a sweet name for a cat!'</p> - -<p>'Because somehow he happens to have a name already,' Auntie May said, -extra sweetly, because she was so bored by the lady and wanted to read -her novel.</p> - -<p>'Why doesn't he have a yellow ribbon round his dear neck? A yellow -ribbon would look so sweet—so like Velasquez' scheme of colouring!'</p> - -<p>'I never allow my cats to wear horse-collars,' said Auntie May, 'for -fear of spoiling their ruffs. I think I <i>must</i> put you in again, -darling, for I want to read. You won't mind, will you, for I will leave -you my hand to lick!'</p> - -<p>So down went the lid on me, and the lady in the corner calmed down, -though she still chirped occasionally like the birds in the square -garden in the mornings.</p> - -<p>The rushing and the rocking stopped suddenly, and I heard a voice call -out 'Darlington!'</p> - -<p>'Oh, how sweet!' said the lady in the corner. 'And what are you going -to do with your darling cat?'</p> - -<p>'Put him on the rails!' said Auntie May, quite rudely. '<i>Good</i> morning!'</p> - -<p>But we did not catch our train; it had gone. We had missed the -connection. '<i>Tant pis!</i>' Auntie May said (which means 'All the -worse!'). 'We will go and put an ornamental frill round something.'</p> - -<p>That meant <i>eat</i>, as I found soon enough. She opened the basket and -turned me out on to a marble tablecloth, very cold to the feet, and -gave me a saucer full of milk. I don't like eating off anything white, -for that always means getting banged. Auntie May's way of preventing -kittens from stealing off tables is to associate eating off anything -white in their minds with a whipping. However, in this case it was -she herself who put me up to it. When we had done (Auntie May ate -a couple of sponge-cakes) we went to another room where a woman in -grey was sitting over the fire knitting, and Auntie May talked to an -old gentleman with black silk gaiters and a black silk pinafore like -Rosamond's, who turned out to be the bishop of the town near where -Beatrice lived. It was all delightful, except that people kept opening -the door of the room and looking in and going away again, making me -jump every time, and the bishop too. I <i>am</i> a nervous little cat, as -Auntie May told the black lady, and I am to Fred as a carthorse is to a -racehorse. After we had sat there for what seemed a long time, a guard -put his head in at the door and said, as if it didn't particularly -matter, 'Anybody here for the four-fifteen?'</p> - -<p>It did matter, and everybody jumped up except the grey-haired woman, -who went on knitting. Auntie May popped me into the basket, and -fastened the lid safely; the bishop offered to carry me, but she would -not let him. I was relieved, and I think by the sound of his voice he -was relieved too. I did not mew, for it would only distress her and -disgrace her before her new friend. Besides, I was full, and you have -no idea what a difference it makes. I curled round and determined to -take no notice of any sort of noise. Even when Auntie May prodded me -with her finger kindly, I wished she would not, for I felt too stupid -to mew, and just wanted to be let alone for the rest of the journey. -Besides, I felt rather sick. They should not fill one up with milk like -a bottle and then shake one about. I wished I had refused it at the -time.</p> - -<p>The train slowed down, and the bishop said, 'Can I be of assistance to -you in any way?'</p> - -<p>'Thank you very much,' Auntie May said, 'but Tom, my brother-in-law, -will meet us. There he is!'</p> - -<p>Then, I think, she forgot all about the bishop, for she said to some -one at the carriage window, in a fearfully excited voice, 'Oh, Tom, how -is she? I <i>have</i> brought a kitten—'</p> - -<p>Tom did not answer, but I fancy he shook his head, or something that -didn't seem hopeful, for Auntie May squeaked, 'Oh dear!' in not at all -her usual voice.</p> - -<p>Tom seemed only business-like. 'Where's your ticket? Hand it over. Had -you to take a dog ticket for this little brute?'</p> - -<p>'<i>Tom!</i>'</p> - -<p>'All right. Come on!'</p> - -<p>They did not say a word to each other till we had walked a little way -and stood about a little, and Auntie May had taken a step up with me -and sat down. And then the rolling and rocking began again. I was -nearly dead with fuss and different ways of travelling. But I listened -to what was said.</p> - -<p>'She hardly knew us yesterday,' he was saying. He had a deep big voice, -much louder than May's father's voice, but then Mr. Graham is an artist -and Tom Gilmour is a sportsman, and is always calling to things across -bogs and moors to follow him or come to heel, so mother told me. He -went on, choking rather:</p> - -<p>'It was a sort of faint. She got quite cold, and the nurse said, -"<i>Anything</i> to rouse her, sir! I wish she had a pet, sir!" And I was -sending for you anyhow, and so I said, "Would a kitten do?" and the -woman said, "Might try it, sir." So I sent that message to you, "<i>Bring -a cat!</i>" Pretty comic, wasn't it? Ho, ho!'</p> - -<p>It was a melancholy sort of cackle, but Auntie May cried out:</p> - -<p>'Oh, Tom, how can you laugh with Beatrice in such a state?' She began -to cry herself and rock about in the carriage.</p> - -<p>'Better to laugh than cry with an invalid any day,' said Tom. 'And I -tell you what, May, my dear, if you are going to be a hysterical muff, -you had much better not have come down at all. You will do Beatrice -more harm than good. Stow it, can't you? Good Lord, now there's the -wretched brute in the basket beginning to caterwaul!'</p> - -<p>I was <i>not</i> caterwauling, only trying to tell Auntie May to be quiet -and that Tom was quite right. But one is so easily misunderstood. -However, Auntie May got sensible all at once, and thanked Tom for -speaking sharply to her, and said she meant to do Beatrice good, not -harm, and would he like to see the little kitten, and she had chosen -the prettiest, and so on.</p> - -<p>'If you like you can let the beast out,' he said roughly. 'I look upon -all cats as vermin myself. I know I shoot 'em pretty quick when they -come into the garden. They are so beastly destructive, you know, worse -than rabbits even. Here, yank him out and let's see the little beggar.'</p> - -<p>So out I came, and I at once crawled all over his nice great knees, -covered with thick lovely wool that I could pick up with my claws in -handfuls and not be missed. My claws were little and the stuff was -thick, not like the clothes of Auntie May's friends, male and female. -The men squirm when I get on their knees and try to bear it, but the -women jump up and squeak the moment you touch them. They have only got -one coating probably under their thin muslin gowns, being ridiculously -under-furred. But Tom only grinned and said:</p> - -<p>'Go it, little un! You can't hurt <i>me</i>. Beatrice's knitted stockings -will stand a good deal. Poor darling! I only wish I knew whether she -would ever knit me any more of them!'</p> - -<p>'Now <i>you</i> mustn't be depressed!' said Auntie May, patting his knees. -She was awfully fond of Tom I could see, and he of her, though he -abused her all the time, and laughed at her novels and her editors and -publishers, and her life in London generally, so different from his and -Beatrice's. I was very eager to see Beatrice, because she was Auntie -May's sister and Rosamond's mother, but I was not allowed to until -after supper, mine and Auntie May's. We had it with Tom alone, and he -hardly said a word all dinner, though the nurse came down and told us -that Beatrice was much better and hadn't fainted at all that day, and -had eaten quite a fair meal at seven.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> - -<h3>AN INVALID</h3> - - -<p>After supper, about half-past eight, Auntie May took me in her arms and -carried me into a bedroom. A stiff woman was there with a white cap and -apron on. On the bed, that was very prettily trimmed and arranged with -painted flowers and real flowers all about it, was Beatrice. She had -yellow hair trained all over the pillow, tied up with blue bows, and -a great many of them. Her eyes were very wide open and sad. She was a -very tall woman, for she stretched a good way under the bedclothes. She -put out a wretchedly thin sort of claw to take hold of me—she had seen -Auntie May before, just for a minute.</p> - -<p>'Oh, you sweet, right, absolutely perfect thing,' she said to me. 'May, -how did you know that it was exactly what I wanted?'</p> - -<p>All this was so fearfully and wonderfully polite that I made a great -effort and conquered my own repugnance to an ill person, and flinging -mother's mean counsels to the winds, I let her take me in her arms and -fold me up quite close to her, almost inside the sheets, and squeeze me -till I thought she would drive all the breath out of my body. At any -rate, the poor sick thing was happy, and it is a delightful feeling to -be giving any one pleasure like that. I didn't even squeal. She was far -too weak to do it again, luckily, but lay quite still with her arms -slack, letting me lie on her chest, curled up so that it would take me -some time to go away. I think They ought to know that if once you get a -cat to curl wherever it is you want him to settle, he has accepted the -situation, and there is no fear of his running away for the present.</p> - -<p>'Will you leave it with me, May, dear? Will it stop alone with me -without you, do you think?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, it is very young, it hasn't learnt to love <i>me</i> yet!' Auntie May -said hastily. 'It will stay with you all right—that is, if nurse -permits it.'</p> - -<p>She raised her eyebrows at the nurse and the nurse nodded.</p> - -<p>'I can't say I approve of cats in the sick-room, Miss,' she said in a -low voice while Beatrice was fondling me, 'but for this once—and it -seems to have done her so much good, too!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May said, 'You see, we are all like that in our -family—perfectly mad on cats. It is only because my sister lives in -the country, where cats are so apt to go a-hunting and get killed, that -she doesn't have the house full of them. You see, I know how she feels, -as I am her twin-sister. Now I will go and tell my brother-in-law of -the success of his prescription.'</p> - -<p>Before she left the room she bent down and whispered to me:</p> - -<p>'Be a good boy, and stay behind willingly, and don't come squealing -after me the moment the door shuts behind me, or I'll never forgive -you, Loki, so just you mind!'</p> - -<p>'What are you two mumbling together?' asked Beatrice pleasantly. 'I -won't have any secrets. I want Loki's undivided allegiance, please.'</p> - -<p>So I stayed with Beatrice all night, and the nurse most officiously -stayed too. There was a sweet little dancing light on the mantelpiece -that I could not take my eyes off, as it flickered over the edge -of its silver dish. Beatrice never seemed to sleep. The nurse fed -her twice—once it was cornflour, for they gave me the remainder of -it. The nurse was kind on the whole, but rather contemptuous. I -told mother about her afterwards, and mother said nurses always were -contemptuous—that is, if they were any good. The coaxing, sweet-spoken -ones never got any authority, and usually were changed in a month.</p> - -<p>This one didn't mind showing that she thought Beatrice an utter fool -to want to keep a grey kitten with her day and night, but she had seen -so many invalids she was never surprised at anything. When she was not -nursing Beatrice, she sat and made herself stiff white calico aprons, -and broke a needle over every seam. She took me down to Auntie May for -my meals, lifting me very gently, as if I had been a 'case'; but she -hadn't the slightest idea where my bones came, as Auntie May did—I -could tell that from the way she carried me.</p> - -<p>I saw <i>her</i> having her meals once. She crooked her little finger -over the handle of the teacup as she drank and stopped between each -mouthful, and when the parlour-maid, who waited on her very crossly, -asked her if she would have another helping of mutton, she answered, -'Thank you, I have sufficient,' and to the same question about her -beer, she replied, 'Not any more, thank you!'</p> - -<p>It was while I was in Beatrice's bedroom that I first saw myself in -the glass. I thought it was another cat at first. I kissed it, and its -mouth was very cold. Then I lifted my paw to shake paws with it, as it -seemed so anxious to be friends. It did exactly what I did. This was -unsatisfactory somehow. I got cross, and dabbed at its paw with mine; -and then I got crosser still and dabbed just anywhere all over the -place, and it seemed quite as furious as I was and dabbed too. I should -have gone on for ever if Beatrice hadn't asked what that scratching, -pattering noise was? The nurse answered, 'The cat sees himself in the -glass, Madam,' in the little stiff voice she had.</p> - -<p>So that was all, and I was very much hurt at having been made such a -fool of, and what is more, I did not believe it. It <i>was</i> a ghost.</p> - -<p>Some cats believe in ghosts, some don't, mother told me. She herself -sees them. I longed to get home again and compare notes with mother. -What I saw may have been the ghost of Great-Uncle Tomyris, whom I am -supposed to resemble. I sometimes went and exposed myself to him again, -but not too often; I had a shy feeling about him. I simply detested -being held up to a glass to see him, as Auntie May sometimes chose to -do, with great want of tact. I would not fight him, or even touch him; -why should I? His nose was awfully cold, and sent a thrill through me, -as of one who comes from another world.</p> - -<p>Beatrice got slowly better, and I got ill. They did not feed me right, -but brought me remains of sticky, greasy made dishes with queer -flavours that would disagree with any cat. We like to live very simply, -and I was little more than a kitten. But I <i>had</i> to eat something to -keep body and fur together, and yet what I did eat did not nourish me, -and only did me harm.</p> - -<p>'His little stomach is like a drum,' Beatrice said sadly. 'He has got -indigestion. What could you fancy, my pet, my sweet? I wish I could -guess and I would give it you.'</p> - -<p>I wanted a piece of plain lean beef, minced for preference, or -shredded, but I knew cooks didn't like setting the mincing-machine in -motion '<i>for a cat!</i>' so I supposed I should not get it, though I knew -Auntie May had ordered it for me. It is funny how people, inferior -people, think a cat can eat anything. Auntie May always takes in the -butcher by not allowing the cook at home to send for 'pieces for -cats.' If you mention that it's for a cat, she says, the butcher or -the fishmonger always wraps up the meat or fish in newspaper, she has -noticed that particularly.</p> - -<p>I wished she would go into the kitchen and blow up that cook. She was -so bothered about Beatrice that she was not herself, and seemed to have -forgotten me, in spite of her loving words when she came across me on -the stairs or anywhere.</p> - -<p>Beatrice had massage, and she knew how it was done and she gave me -some, which relieved the pain a little. She used to rub my stomach -gently for half-an-hour together, and when I at last got well she was -firmly persuaded that she had cured me. I knew better. It was Tom.</p> - -<p>Tom never took much notice of me, but once when he was leaning over -Beatrice's bed she told him that I was not well.</p> - -<p>'Poor brute,' said he, 'I should like to know how it could be well! Fed -on messes and deprived of exercise! No dog could thrive on a regimen -like that, and I suppose a cat is put together something after the same -fashion.'</p> - -<p>'But,' said Beatrice, 'how can he have exercise, Tom? They tell me that -there were two degrees of frost the night before last, and the garden -is a mush, and the grass all white with rime!'</p> - -<p>'No matter, that's what he wants. Look at him!'</p> - -<p>I had risen and gone across to the window to try to signify to Them -that I agreed with Tom, who added, 'The poor little beggar knows what -is good for him.'</p> - -<p>'It isn't good for him to wet his little silver feet,' said Beatrice.</p> - -<p>'I bet you it wouldn't hurt him. Be as good as a Beecham's pill to the -little fellow,' said Tom, who was getting quite excited over his idea. -I was leaping about, alternately rubbing myself against the window and -then against his knee. 'Look here, Beatrice, I'll take him out. I'll -take the responsibility.'</p> - -<p>'Do what you like, Tom, but whatever you do don't let May catch you.'</p> - -<p>'May is in the dark room, developing some photos. Come on, you kid!' He -lifted me as nicely as Auntie May could; his hands were enormous, and -one of them seemed to swallow me all up, and hiding me under the lapel -of his coat, he slunk downstairs with me, chuckling all the time. He -opened the hall door, carried me across the gravel, which was soaking, -and dropped me on to the lawn.</p> - -<p>Wow! but it was wet! I stood a moment undecided, but then I saw that -good Tom on the other side of the patch of grass dangling something in -his hand. My courage came to me and I darted across, squelching out wet -at every step I took. Tom, of course, wasn't at the other end when I -got there, but at the place I had just left, still waving the enticing -thing, whatever it was. I scuttled after him, and we played that game -three times, and I felt like a new cat. The fourth time he stayed, -and let me get hold of the object, which was nothing more than an old -leather bit of strap that he punished the dogs with, and when I had got -my teeth well into it, he caught me up by it and carried me back to -Beatrice.</p> - -<p>'Here's your precious cat! Now dry his feet and polish them up for -all you're worth; put a shine on them, if you can'—he handed her a -towel—'and don't leave a wet hair on him.'</p> - -<p>I was all right after that. Also the rime went off the grass, and it -was rather fine for October, and they got into the way of letting me -go out a little regularly. Auntie May protested, and said it had never -been done in our family, but Tom assured her it could do me no harm if -I was brought in and not allowed to sit about with damp feet. I simply -loved Tom, for it was he who cured me far more than the massage, and -got me leave to run about in the garden and try to catch things.</p> - -<p>I never caught anything, but all sorts of things tried to catch me. -Once it was three thrushes that hunted me across the lawn in front of -the drawing-room windows, and a strange dog once strayed in, attracted -by the sight of me, and I should have had a bad time, only that -Beatrice always took care to have a window left open somewhere on all -the sides of the house for me to fly in to in case of need.</p> - -<p>The <i>house</i> dogs had all been introduced to me and told to leave me -alone, and they jolly well obeyed. Beatrice said she never could have -believed that they would have tolerated me as they did. They not only -tolerated me—I saw to that myself, for I very soon began to lord it -over them and take any seat I fancied, even though it had been Peg's or -Meg's before—they got to treat me as gentlemen treat ladies, moving -out of any nice place when I approached, and never thinking of going -out of a room before me. We could not understand each other in the -least, and I have often wondered why, since I can understand Beatrice -and Auntie May, and all the big ones so well. The dogs make absurd -noises and bark, but perhaps it means nothing, and they only <i>think</i> -they are talking! Anyway they are not nearly such conversational -creatures as cats; they often get through a whole day without uttering -a sound. Now I can't even enter a room without making a remark, and -when anything has happened to me I come in and tell Them, forgetting -They can't understand me. Auntie May always listens politely.</p> - -<p>'What is all this you are trying to tell me?' she said, when I came in -one day full of the adventure of the tame rabbit which had insulted -me. Kitty had brought it out on the lawn to be introduced to me and we -had just rubbed noses, when it suddenly turned round and tossed up its -heels, all over mould, in my face and scuttled off. Ill-bred thing! I -tried to tell Them, but it was no use. Rosamond said, 'What is it all -about, little talking cat? Auntie May, just listen, he is bubbling away -with conversation, and most awfully interested in himself and what has -happened to him. I <i>wish</i> I could understand.'</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> - -<h3>A MAN WHO HATED ME</h3> - - -<p>Up to now I had been kept as much as possible with Beatrice; but when -she was better and able to come down, I realised that there were three -children in the house—my old friend Rosamond, of course, and two -others, Amerye and Kitty, whom I had hardly seen at all.</p> - -<p>Heaps of people kept cropping up. There was Miss Grueber, their -governess, and Annie, their schoolroom-maid. After Beatrice had been -downstairs and 'on the sofa' a week, her mother-in-law, Tom's mother, a -Mrs. Gilmour, came, and I scratched her.</p> - -<p>She made the most fearful fuss, and I am ready to declare that my claw -was not shot out with any degree of violence, nor did it penetrate more -than the eighth of an inch into her hand. But she said her arm would -mortify. She complained of a twisting sort of pain reaching up as far -as her elbow, and wore her arm in a sling to keep the blood out of it. -She said there was poison in cat's nails as well as in that of human -beings, only their nails don't affect you unless that human being is -in a rage. She went about with a 'poor-poor' face, and requested that -I might be removed if I happened to be in the room when she came into -it. I often hid when she was there, for though I disliked her and would -not ever go near her again, or play with her bobbly fringe or the ends -of her fur stole, I found her amusing and liked to listen to the absurd -things she said and the stories she told, although I hardly believed -them. She said she herself was indifferent to cats if they didn't come -near her, but there were people who fainted away if a cat came into the -room where they were. That I afterwards had reason to know was true, -for it coloured my whole life.</p> - -<p>One day Beatrice was downstairs lying on the sofa in a sweet lace thing -with lots of fascinating frills to play with. I refrained because she -had been ill. She told us she had put on this lovely <i>négligée</i> because -Mr. Fox was coming to tea.</p> - -<p>'Who is Mr. Fox?' asked Auntie May.</p> - -<p>'Oh, a very nice man who has taken Shortleas this year. I don't know -where he comes from—London, I suppose—but I met him somewhere before -I was ill and found we were neighbours—if you call five miles apart -neighbours—and thought we might as well be civil to him. I asked him -to tea while you were here—I thought perhaps he might like to meet a -London authoress.'</p> - -<p>Auntie May looked cross, as she always does when they talk of her -books, which she doesn't think much of, only they bring her pocket -money, and as Mr. Graham is always spending his on old silver and -enamel, it is important to her. Then as it was still quite early, and -Mr. Fox wasn't likely to come till tea-time, Beatrice civilly asked -Mrs. Gilmour to play something to us.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour said she wouldn't, at first, but Beatrice worried her to -do it, knowing that she meant to in the end, and at last the old lady -opened the instrument, as she called it, and began.</p> - -<p>In all my life I never heard anything like it! The old thing's -gnarled fingers hopped and skipped and jumped and rattled about like -hailstones, and the notes bobbed up under them as if they were alive. -I longed to catch them, but I dared not go any nearer to the terrible -noise.</p> - -<p>'Lovely!' murmured Beatrice, closing her eyes.</p> - -<p>'Sweet!' said Auntie May, pegging away at her fancy work that she wants -to get done.</p> - -<p>I felt perfectly sick, and as if my inside was being pulled right out -of me. I should have died if I couldn't have run away and hidden myself -somewhere. Down, down went my tail, as we cats always put it when in -trouble, and I crept under the Chesterfield sofa, wishing only that my -ears had been smaller and did not let the sound in so much.</p> - -<p>'I love the minor key,' said Auntie May, and then I knew what it was -<i>I</i> disliked so much.</p> - -<p>Presently there was a scrunch on the gravel outside; not a cart or trap -scrunch, but a motor scrunch, which is quite different. Auntie May gave -a pat to her hair, and Beatrice a tug to her skirt, and whispered to -Auntie May in fun:</p> - -<p>'Now mind you don't shock him, you wild London girl!'</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour must have heard the scrunch too, but she went on playing -louder than ever, only jumping up with a little mew of surprise as the -door opened and Barton announced: 'Mr. Fox.'</p> - -<p>I could see Mr. Fox by lifting up the edge of the valance of the sofa -with my nose, and I took a good look at him. He was very tall, and -very dark-haired, and stooped a little. I dropped the edge of the -valance again, for it was tiring, and I could tell things about him by -using my ears—for instance, that he was a very shy man.</p> - -<p>He was, of course, introduced to Auntie May, and for the rest of his -visit he sat staring at her. I guessed this from the direction of his -voice when he spoke. Mrs. Gilmour talked to him most, and all about the -poor, and why they want a three-roomed cottage instead of a two-roomed -one.</p> - -<p>'I should think every family wanted a spare room,' said Auntie May, 'to -stow their mother-in-law—or the cat.'</p> - -<p>'Don't be flippant, May,' said Beatrice, and Mr. Fox seemed to be -wriggling on his chair, for it creaked. I suppose he didn't like her to -make fun of mothers-in-law; but if his was like Mrs. Gilmour, it would -be difficult to help it.</p> - -<p>Presently I looked out and saw that he had pulled his handkerchief out -and then didn't seem to know what to do with it. Very soon, however, he -began to put it to his mouth and I could hear him gasp.</p> - -<p>'Do ring, May,' said Beatrice. 'I can see that Mr. Fox is dying for tea -after his long drive.'</p> - -<p>'Not at all,' Mr. Fox blurted out. 'Not at all. I never take tea, I—'</p> - -<p>'Have a brandy and soda, then. Tom always does.'</p> - -<p>'Mr. Fox looks quite pale,' said Mrs. Gilmour.</p> - -<p>'The fact is,' said Mr. Fox, and his voice trembled, 'I am not very—I -am afraid I cannot stop for tea to-day.'</p> - -<p>'I am afraid you are not well, Mr. Fox. Last time you came I had the -pleasure of pouring you out a very strong cup.'</p> - -<p>'I know,' mumbled poor Mr. Fox. 'The heat'—it was drizzling snow and -sleet at that very moment—'I want air. I feel I must leave you; the -truth is, I am so unfortunately constituted'—here he simply gasped. 'I -am convinced that there is a cat in the room.'</p> - -<p>'There isn't, that I know of. But if there was—'</p> - -<p>'I am sorry to say I am sure of it, from my ridiculous weakness. I have -been subject to it from childhood. I cannot breathe—I feel positively -faint if one of those animals is anywhere in my neighbourhood.'</p> - -<p>'May, if your wretched cat is hidden under the sofa—hunt it out quick, -or poor Mr. Fox will faint!'</p> - -<p>'Please don't disturb your pet for me,' said poor Mr. Fox, politely. 'I -had much better go. I am quite ashamed of myself.'</p> - -<p>But meantime Auntie May had lifted up the valance of the sofa, and -I had walked out, given Mr. Fox one look, and sought the door which -Auntie May opened for me respectfully. No vulgar shooing for me! She -followed me out and took me in her arms.</p> - -<p>'Never mind, you sweet little innocent lamb that never did harm -to any one. Never mind what the silly man says. Go and have tea -in the schoolroom, and behave, and don't get schoolroom manners, -please—remember you are a drawing-room cat, and behave as such.'</p> - -<p>She opened the schoolroom door and shoved me in; she seemed in a great -hurry to get back to the silly weak sort of man.</p> - -<p>I knew what she meant by schoolroom manners. Nobody could behave better -than Rosamond, Amerye, or Kitty sometimes. When they were allowed to -have tea in the drawing-room they made it a point of honour to be -quite different, but in the schoolroom they had an idea that it didn't -matter. They clawed large chunky slices of bread off the plate and -buttered them with the butter-knife up in the air, as they weren't -allowed to do when Beatrice was there, and drank 'giant drinks' till -their cups were empty, looking at each other over the rim all the while -and trying not to end with a sputter, as a syphon does.</p> - -<p>Kitty, the youngest child, was still shy about speaking when she was -told to, though she could rattle away twenty to the dozen when not -invited to give her opinion, or even when told to shut up.</p> - -<p>This very day she gave us an example of her particular kind of -obstinacy. She badly wanted some more cake and didn't want to ask -politely for it, because that would be letting Fraülein know that she -<i>did</i> want it.</p> - -<p>Fraülein knew that. She said:</p> - -<p>'Now, Kiddy'—that was the way she pronounced Kitty—'you can have that -piece of cake as soon as you say, "Yes, please." Kiddy, do you want it?'</p> - -<p>Kitty nodded.</p> - -<p>'Well, you can have it if you will only say, "Yes, please," and if you -won't say, "Yes, please," Kiddy—well, then, you can go wizout.'</p> - -<p>Kitty began to cry gently.</p> - -<p>'You little silly,' said Rosamond, 'if you really do want the bun, why -can't you say what you are wanted to say? What is there in it after -all? Yes please, yes please, yes please—I can go on for ever.'</p> - -<p>'Pray don't,' said Fraülein. 'Now, Kiddy—'</p> - -<p>'I <i>will</i> say it, Fraülein, I <i>will</i> really,' Kitty cried.</p> - -<p>'Well, then, say it.'</p> - -<p>'I can't.'</p> - -<p>'Very well, then, go wizout.'</p> - -<p>Kitty began to turn on the waterworks and Rosamond pinched her severely.</p> - -<p>'I <i>am</i> going to say it; take away your hand,' declared Kitty at last. -So they held out the plate to her and said solemnly, 'Will you have -this bun?' and Kitty sold them all a good deal, for she opened her -mouth and said:</p> - -<p>'No, thank you.'</p> - -<p>That was exactly what a cat would have done in her place.</p> - -<p>That child is like a cat in some other ways, she spoils property. I -don't suppose her teeth meet in things exactly, but her fingers are as -sharp as claws any day. When Auntie May came in a few moments later, -having got rid of Mr. Fox, I heard some more about Rosamond's famous -doll Wilhelmina.</p> - -<p>It appears that Kitty had once had a delightful toy, an old woman who -lived in a shoe with her ten children, and that after she had had it a -month Kitty undressed all the children and stripped them to see if any -of them had measles or not. She then lost their clothes, or used them -for something else, painting rags, I believe, so the old woman had to -keep all her children in the toe for decency. We talked about the old -woman for a long time, and then—I suppose Auntie May had forgotten -about the fate of the doll, for she turned to Rosamond and asked her -what had become of Wilhelmina?</p> - -<p>To my great surprise Rosamond, who is thirteen and hardly ever cries, -burst into tears and spilt all the tea out of her mouth on to the -tablecloth.</p> - -<p>'Wilhelmina died,' said Kitty hastily. 'Poor thing!'</p> - -<p>'Don't <i>you</i> pity her, <i>you</i> murdered her,' sobbed Rosamond. 'Oh, -Auntie May, she broke her and pulled her all to sticks and streaks, and -she had been all through scarlet fever with me—'</p> - -<p>'And she had been <i>defected</i>, she had,' said Kitty, tremendously -interested.</p> - -<p>'Shut up, you snake!—which left Wilhelmina weak and easily breakable, -and so when Kitty got hold of her she just sighed and came in pieces. -I have never minded anything in my life so much, and Kitty never even -said she was sorry.'</p> - -<p>'I'll make her,' said Amerye, taking part in the conversation for the -first time. 'Come along with me, Kitty, and I'll <i>make</i> you sorry!'</p> - -<p>Tea was over and she marched Kitty into a corner, and Auntie May said -she would give Rosamond a new doll if she really cared so much.</p> - -<p>'Not now,' Rosamond said. 'I am rising fourteen now, as Daddy says, and -the next doll I have will have to be a real one. No more make-believe -children for me, thank you!'</p> - -<p>'Only tink, Mees,' said Fraülein Grueber to Auntie May, 'what dat dear -shild make me soffer! I try very hard to train her mind. I say to her -when we are promenading togedder, how you call dis or dat naturlish -object? It is what you call the Kindergarten method—teach her her -nouns and werbs. Dere are some cows in the field, and I say, "Kiddy, -what do you call dose tings?" and Kiddy she answer, "Pigs." I say, "No, -Kiddy, not pig, try again," and she say, "Well, den, rooks." Then I get -angert, and I say, shaking my umberell, "You make a fool of me, Kiddy, -and what are they? Finish!" And Kiddy, she smile sweetly and say, -"Mushrooms." Then I am quite out of myself, and I say, "No tea for you, -Kiddy, till you tell me what dose are!" Then she seem a bit worried, -and she look hard at the cows and she say, "Monkeys!"</p> - -<p>'I take her and I shake her and I say, "Kiddy, no jam with your tea!" -and she only reply, "I not care for jam," which is one big lie and she -know it. Then she appear all at once to melt and say, "Fraülein, I tell -you, because you are so kind," and I say, "Yes, yes, my shild!" all in -haste to be friends mit her again, and she whisper in my ear, "Liddle -boys!" Then I lose my whole head completely and I whip her toroughly. -Here, kom, my own liebchen, my lamb, have you been good and made your -apologies to your sisterchen?'</p> - -<p>Kitty had just come in again, led by Amerye.</p> - -<p>'IamsorryRosamond,' she said, all in one word to show how little she -cared. 'Now, Amerye, take me to see your chickens as you promised.'</p> - -<p>'I said if Auntie May will come too,' corrected Amerye. And so, to help -Amerye to keep the promise by which she had got Kitty to beg Rosamond's -pardon (Kitty wasn't allowed near the hen-house because of something -she once had done—I could never find out what), Auntie May had to -say 'yes,' and off we all went to the hen-house, although poor Auntie -May had only bead slippers on, while Amerye had goloshes. I had no -shoes, but Auntie May took me across her shoulder. I did not mind going -so long as I was not taken up to those awfully rude rabbits, and I -suspected they were somewhere that way; people generally keep all their -children's nuisances in one place. But we did not after all go near -them, and all I saw was nice hens, and one duck with a beak exactly the -colour of Amerye's hair. All his family had been eaten, but somehow he -had got left out so long that they hadn't the heart to kill him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus4"> - <img src="images/illus4.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>AUNTIE MAY TOOK ME ACROSS HER SHOULDER.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>I was glad they didn't put me down among the animals. I didn't fancy -that broad bill of the duck's fumbling at me.</p> - -<p>Next day at luncheon Kitty scored off Miss Grueber again. Kitty adores -chocolate pudding, and when it is there she gallops through her first -helping of rice so as to be ready for chocolate.</p> - -<p>Miss Grueber, who knew this, said, 'Kiddy, you are done your rice -double-quick time. I see you come. <i>Now</i> what you want?'</p> - -<p>And Kitty said very politely, 'Some <i>more</i> rice pudding, if you please.'</p> - -<p>That night I was back in the drawing-room again, on Beatrice's knee, -and they all talked of ghosts. I was surprised to hear that Mrs. -Gilmour had seen several north-country ghosts. In fact she knew them -very well, and said there was no need to be afraid of them, for they -never touched you.</p> - -<p>Auntie May made her quite angry by telling her that her cat Petronilla -saw ghosts.</p> - -<p>'Last year,' said Auntie May, 'I took her to Littlecote, the famous -Elizabethan mansion that is haunted by Wild Darrell. We had Queen -Elizabeth's room, with a stone carved mantelpiece that seemed to -overhang the whole room. Pet slept on my bed on the side farthest -away from the door. About the middle of the night—I was not exactly -sleeping very well myself—I felt her stirring, and I lit a candle, -for there is of course no electric light in such a very old house. -Petronilla was sitting up in her place, staring out at something near -the door. Her great green eyes were round and dilated. She sat staring -fixedly in the same direction for quite five minutes—'</p> - -<p>'Are you quite sure as to the number of minutes?' asked Mrs. Gilmour, -sarcastically.</p> - -<p>'I could not help staring too, though I saw nothing but my white -dressing-gown hanging on the door. Poor Pet saw more than that, I -am sure. At last she sighed and took her eyes slowly off, and lay down -again and never stirred. I knew by that that the ghost was no longer -visible.'</p> - -<p>'I am much obliged to you for confounding me with your feline pets,' -remarked Mrs. Gilmour. 'And now I think, Beatrice, as I am rather -tired, I will say good-night. Miss Graham, excuse my remarking it, but -I do think you have cat on the brain!'</p> - -<p>'She's offended,' said Beatrice, 'and now she'll cut me off with a -shilling. I must say, May dear, that for a novelist you are about the -most tactless person I ever knew.'</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> - -<h3>MY FIRST MOUSE</h3> - - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour was never very nice to Auntie May after that. She began to -be nasty again at breakfast. Auntie May was reading her letters, and -one of them was from Mrs. Dillon.</p> - -<p>'"Admiral Togo,"' Auntie May read out, '"<i>is the chief joy of my -life</i>." Oh listen, all of you, for you will be so much amused; I am -not, for of course it seems to me the obvious and natural thing to do. -"He is coming with me to my winter quarters in South Africa."'</p> - -<p>'And Mr. Dillon—is he being left behind?' said Mrs. Gilmour. 'Though -after all, what is a husband in comparison with a cat? And she is -taking a hired attendant for him, and possibly a chef, and engaging a -private cabin for him—of <i>course</i>?'</p> - -<p>'There isn't a Mr. Dillon,' said Auntie May, shaking with laughter, -'but as far as the cabin goes, that is precisely what she <i>is</i> doing. -She says so.'</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour looked a little put out for a moment, then she said:</p> - -<p>'I don't suppose they would admit the young gentleman except on those -conditions. Well, well, if people have absurd fancies they must pay for -them. Your friend seems to have plenty of good money to throw away!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May said she would send a letter of directions to Mrs. Dillon's -maid, to tell her how to feed the kitten on the voyage. Forgetting -apparently that Mrs. Gilmour was there still, she went on:</p> - -<p>'When medicine has to be given, I prefer it in the form of powders.' -Mrs. Gilmour pretended to be interested in order to be nastier -afterwards. 'To liquids they close their throats somehow, and it runs -out of the corner of their mouths. As for giving pills! Petronilla -shoots the pill several feet into the air, and the first thing that -tells me she hasn't swallowed it is the noise it makes as it hits the -ceiling. Poor Pet! She appears to think it funny.'</p> - -<p>'So do I!' said Beatrice, screaming with laughter. 'I think I see -Petronilla, with her Burne-Jones angel expression, staring up to the -ceiling to see if she has hit the bull's eye, and you in despair -because you can't get the pills driven into her.'</p> - -<p>'Has your cat had any <i>very</i> alarming illnesses?' inquired Mrs. -Gilmour, with a very perfidious expression, but Auntie May was quite -taken in by her appearance of interest.</p> - -<p>'Let me see, Petronilla has had gastritis, and she has once ricked her -back jumping backwards, and then she had to have massage—'</p> - -<p>'Did it come expensive?' inquired the old lady.</p> - -<p>'Yes, very. My cats cost me a fortune. What with their food and their -illnesses, etc., what I can raise on Pet's kittens hardly repays me for -my outlay.'</p> - -<p>'Why don't you keep a nice common underbred kitchen cat that nobody -wants to steal? A serviceable beast that can go out in all weathers, -and get through the long grass without getting its fur wet and -draggled,' said Mrs. Gilmour.</p> - -<p>'But as I live in London,' retorted Auntie May, 'where there is no long -grass—'</p> - -<p>'In London,' said Tom, 'I should say myself that a nice tiler and -mouser would be more appropriate.'</p> - -<p>'I don't like tilers and mousers or beetlers in my bed,' said Auntie -May hotly. 'I should never care to kiss cats that had any horrid -pursuit of that kind. And as for mice—do you mean to imply, Tom, that -Loki cannot catch a mouse as well as anybody if he had the chance?'</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour sneered, and Auntie May got quite pink.</p> - -<p>'There are plenty in my carpentering shed,' said Tom. 'Why don't you -let him have a try?'</p> - -<p>'It's disgusting!' said Auntie May. 'But yet—I can't have Loki -depreciated and looked down on. Very well, I will turn him in there for -a few hours and give him a chance of winning his spurs, only I am not -sure if he does that I shall ever feel able to speak to him again! He -has something better to do in life than catching mice, but I won't have -him humiliated, and he <i>shall</i> show you that he can take mousing in his -stride.'</p> - -<p>To me she said, 'Now, Loki, do your level best, but only this once, -mind. You are not to become a slave to the mousing habit, or let it -grow on you. Come along to the carpenter's shed.'</p> - -<p>She took me there and left me alone, shutting the door after her. I -implored her to stay, but she said No, that I must go through it -alone. At first I cried, but becoming convinced she could not hear -me, I left off. I played with shavings for about an hour. It was my -first introduction to the fascinating, lovely, curly, crunchy, clean, -white things. I could bunch them up in my paws and throw them over my -shoulder, and they crackled and twisted when I seized them again as if -they were alive.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus5"> - <img src="images/illus5.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>I PLAYED WITH SHAVINGS FOR ABOUT AN HOUR.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>I had never seen a mouse in my life.</p> - -<p>Presently I saw what I should have said were two bright boot-buttons -set very near together, side by side, though, not one on top of the -other as they would be all down a boot. That roused my suspicions, and -I made a wild dash into the heap of shavings whence they peeped out. -I can say no more than this to account for what I did. I felt horrid -afterwards, not to say rather ill, but at the time I felt nothing but a -desire to get that mouse (for, of course, it was a mouse), and lay it -at the feet of Auntie May, or, better still, throw it in Mrs. Gilmour's -face. I should have died if I had not got it, and I did get it. It -<i>was</i> a mouse, although I hardly looked. I just put my paws, which are -very broad and long, on it and it lay quite still beneath them and -didn't move a bit.</p> - -<p>I did not know what in the world to do with it now that I had got it -safe. I knew that decency dictated that I should eat it, but I had not -the slightest idea where to begin, and I suppose, while I was thinking, -I let my paws rest on it rather more lightly, and it suddenly got up -and walked away!</p> - -<p>I could not stand such an arrant piece of cheek as that, so I got it -back, with very little trouble, for it had not gone far. In a few -moments I loosened my paws again on purpose to see what it would do. -Sure enough it walked away again! It began to be a sort of game we were -playing, and my blood was up.</p> - -<p>It was really rather a cheeky mouse, I think, and enjoyed the game as -much as I did. Presently I varied the fun a little and tossed it up -and down two or three times in the air, catching it again in my paws. -This went on a long time, and I got quite excited, till the last time -it came down it lay quite still, and though I waited for it to walk -away again as usual it did not make the slightest attempt to get up. I -believe it was dead, really and truly, not pretending, but there wasn't -a bruise on its body or a hole in its skin anywhere, for I looked -carefully. I got bored with it and caught another. That one I nipped -in catching, I suppose, for it died at once. I tried to eat it, but no, -I find I don't care for mouse-flesh.</p> - -<p>Before Tom and Beatrice came for me I had laid another brown body -beside the other two, and Tom said when he saw them:</p> - -<p>'One to May! Game little cat! Three in two hours!'</p> - -<p>Auntie May hadn't felt able to come, but Beatrice told her all about it.</p> - -<p>'He didn't really eat any, May, only tried one. It looked like the -inside of a clock somehow.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, don't, you pig!' screamed Auntie May, and cried, actually cried, -about the poor, dear, dead, darling little mice! I cried too, and -promised her I would never catch any more. As a matter of fact, it -really isn't a bit in my line. I am not a stable, or a kitchen, or even -a carpenter's cat, and mousing is not a fit pursuit for Petronilla's -child.</p> - -<p>'So Loki has vindicated his reputation!' remarked Mrs. Gilmour, when -she heard of what Beatrice was pleased to call my prowess. 'Disgusting -little cruel wretch! The principle of cruelty is deeply embedded in a -cat's consciousness. Now a dog—'</p> - -<p>'What does a dog do to a rat?' asked Auntie May rudely. But Mrs. -Gilmour took no notice.</p> - -<p>'The dog is a noble animal—'</p> - -<p>'I once wrote that out a hundred times in my copy-book,' observed -Amerye, 'and I can't write any better now, and I hate dogs because of -it!'</p> - -<p>'Hush, Amerye, you are rude!' said Miss Grueber.</p> - -<p>'A dog has dignity, a cat has only impudence,' continued Mrs. Gilmour, -'and comes when he is called—'</p> - -<p>'To dinner, eh?' said Auntie May. 'I never knew a cat that would come -when it was called to dinner, even. A cat is at least consistent. A dog -is too greedy to wait to be consistent.'</p> - -<p>'A dog can be greedy with dignity!' said Mrs. Gilmour. 'I have seen -him. And yet he is man's slave—self-constituted.'</p> - -<p>'I prefer the independence of cats,' retorted Auntie May. 'They won't -be hustled—why should they? It is a mistake to want to enslave them -and destroy all their individuality. Dogs simply feed the love of -domineering that is implanted in our natures. Men—you even, Tom, the -nicest of them—enjoy saying "To heel, sir!" A cat never follows, it -goes before, and looks back and waits for you if it fancies you. It -has pronounced likes and dislikes, and is not afraid to show them. A -dog will lick any one's hand.'</p> - -<p>'And a cat will scratch any one's nose. How do you manage in London, -Miss Graham, when you have to go out? Do you confide in all your -partners, and tell them that it was your favourite cat that scratched -you through thick and thin?'</p> - -<p>'Yes, May,' said Beatrice, 'I could not help looking at your neck last -night at dinner, and wondering how you managed?'</p> - -<p>'That was poor Loki,' said Auntie May hastily. 'He <i>will</i> get on to my -shoulder and take flying leaps at the electric light globes.'</p> - -<p>'I don't see why he need kick off from your neck, though,' said Tom.</p> - -<p>'Oh, don't blame his dear spirits!' said that nasty old woman. 'Do you -see him now trying to run away with the blind tassel? He will hang -himself to a certainty.'</p> - -<p>I was sitting on the window seat and playing with the cord. I was not -aware that it was attached to the blind, for it was lying quite quietly -on the sill when it came into my head that I should like to carry it -off to play with. When, having got it well between my jaws, I leapt -off with it, I found myself hanging to it by my teeth, and it gave me -a nasty jar.</p> - -<p>One thing I noticed, although Mrs. Gilmour was always down on me when -Auntie May was there, she was quite different when we were alone -together. Then she used to hold out her wrinkled claw and flip her -ribbons to attract me, and say, 'Poos! Poos!' as if she wished me to -come to her; but I was not quite sure, so I never ventured, though -she was not a bad old thing in the main and awfully fond of her -grandchildren, and scolded them only very gently for the noise they -made every day about six o'clock.</p> - -<p>I don't know how it was, but at that time they all lost their heads, -and screeched and shouted and walloped about the house like maniacs or -cats, with Miss Grueber scolding them, but not in a way to make them -leave off. I used to feel quite excited too, and run after their legs, -and nearly get trodden on; and Miss Grueber's large flat foot was no -joke, I can tell you. Still, it was quite amusing playing Blind Man's -Buff and not getting caught. They always put me into their games, and -politely caught me when I put myself in the way of the one who was -blindfolded. Of course I could not be blindfolded, so they had to let -me off being Blind Man, like Kitty, who never would play fair, but -always peeped under the handkerchief.</p> - -<p>'Don't be angry with her, she's only a child!' Rosamond used to say, -'and let her go last down stairs, because we are heavier, and might -come on top of her.'</p> - -<p>They used to come down the stairs helter-skelter on their stomachs, -bumping on every step. I used to come down too, but I could not help -using my feet, and therefore I ran along by the side of them, and got -to the bottom first.</p> - -<p>Once Mrs. Gilmour came out of the drawing-room, just as the whole -procession landed on the mat at the bottom of the staircase. The noise -was deafening. She remarked on it.</p> - -<p>'My dear children,' she said, standing at the open door of the -drawing-room as they all came tumbling at her feet, 'I tremble to think -what your little stomachs must look like! Have you ever seen toast done -on a gridiron? And the racket is deafening. Such yells! Have you all -gone mad? And the cat too, he makes as much noise as any of you!'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Granny,' pleaded Rosamond, very much out of breath, 'please don't -mind the row. It's only just after six. Don't you know that children -and cats always go a little wild at night?'</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> - -<h3>THE CHILDREN'S HOUR</h3> - - -<p>Mr. Fox had a large house-party at Shortleas for a week's shooting, and -he asked Tom and Beatrice to come and bring Auntie May, and stay three -days. Beatrice wanted to accept, so Mrs. Gilmour agreed to stay and -look after the children.</p> - -<p>'He doesn't ask Loki!' said Beatrice slily. 'Can you possibly do -without him for a week, May?'</p> - -<p>'<i>I</i> can take care of him,' said Rosamond eagerly, 'and he can sleep on -my bed, can't he?'</p> - -<p>'And on mine too,' pleaded Amerye.</p> - -<p>Kitty said nothing. She knew she wouldn't be trusted to have a cat or -anything else on her bed.</p> - -<p>'We will take him on alternate nights, Amerye,' said Rosamond, and -so that was settled. Beatrice and Tom and Auntie May drove over to -Shortleas in the dog-cart. Auntie May looked far sorrier to leave me -than glad to go to stay with Mr. Fox. She has never liked him really -since he didn't bear to be in the same room with her cat.</p> - -<p>Then the children solemnly took possession of me, and Rosamond -prevented them from hugging me and lifting me. She never allowed -anybody to do that but herself. She is a domineering little thing. -I lived in the schoolroom all day, and went up to bed with them at -eight. Miss Grueber went up too with them to their rooms, and they -had bed drill. It was very odd. They undressed by drill, they had -brushing-teeth drill, they had health-exercises drill. I wondered if -they would have prayers drill, but they did that alone, without Miss -Grueber, all kneeling down by the side of their beds, and tucking their -nightgowns carefully under their toes for fear I were to play with them -and distract them, which I certainly should have done, because they -were quite pink.</p> - -<p>The brushing-teeth drill was very funny. One, pour water in the glass! -Two, lid off box of tooth-powder! Three, dip brush in glass! Four, dip -brush in tooth-powder! Five, scrub! Repeat five times! Then, Listerine!</p> - -<p>They had separate beds, at least Kitty's was not much more than a -crib, she was so little. The moment Fraülein Grueber had gone they -all three got into the same—Rosamond's or Amerye's, there was a -different hostess each night. Then they babbled for an hour or so, -till they fell asleep. They called it an hour, but children always -exaggerate, and I don't believe it was more than twenty minutes. They -discussed everything, all the things that had been discussed before -them, and whispered before them, and said when they were out of the -room even—they seemed to have heard and to know everything. Rosamond -snubbed Amerye because she had been to stay in London with Auntie May -five times, while Amerye had only been three times. They both snubbed -Kitty because she had never been to London at all. They found her very -convenient, because she was supposed to want to know things, and gave -them a chance of talking about London. She knew that, and sometimes -teased them by saying that she didn't want to hear anything about the -horrid place where she had never been.</p> - -<p>Amerye began like this:</p> - -<p>'Do you know that when I was in London—?'</p> - -<p>'Of course we know. Go on.'</p> - -<p>'Well, when I was in London I went to <i>Everyman</i>.'</p> - -<p>'Were taken, you mean.'</p> - -<p>'Went to a play called <i>Everyman</i>, and I cried, and Auntie May cried, -and Mr. What's-his-name cried. They both said it made them feel so -wicked. It didn't make me feel wicked, only sad and hungry.'</p> - -<p>'When I was in London,' said Rosamond, 'I went to see Henry Irving as -Faust, and I had to go away to the very back of the box.'</p> - -<p>'Why?' asked Kitty. 'Petticoat coming down, or sick?'</p> - -<p>'No, neither, but because I was nervous.'</p> - -<p>'Nervous! Pooh! It was because you were afraid of the devil, you said -last time.'</p> - -<p>'So I was, till I found out it was Sir Henry Irving, and then I liked -him and came back to the front seat again, and fell in love with him—'</p> - -<p>'Fell in love with the devil? How could you?'</p> - -<p>'Everybody does in London.'</p> - -<p>'Now, Amerye, you tell us some more about London,' begged Kitty, whose -business it was to keep the balance true between them.</p> - -<p>'Well, I went to lunch in a restaurant with Auntie May, and had -tournedos—that means turn your back.'</p> - -<p>'What to?'</p> - -<p>'The fire, of course, till they were done,' said Amerye quickly. 'They -were all seamed across in bars. I ate two.'</p> - -<p>'And what did you drink?'</p> - -<p>'Ah—oh—lemonade. Auntie May had champagne.'</p> - -<p>'I've had champagne once—in London,' said Rosamond thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>'How much?'</p> - -<p>'Half a wine-glassful.'</p> - -<p>'And how did you feel?'</p> - -<p>'As if I should like to lay my head on somebody's shoulder and go to -sleep.'</p> - -<p>'That's being drunk.'</p> - -<p>'That isn't a nice word to use, Amerye.'</p> - -<p>'It is not a nice thing to be,' said Amerye severely.</p> - -<p>'Children! Children!' said Kitty. 'Tell us some more, Rosamond.'</p> - -<p>'Last time I was in London,' began Rosamond eagerly, 'I sat to -grandpapa with Petronilla on my lap.'</p> - -<p>'Did you sit still?'</p> - -<p>'I did, but Petronilla didn't. She wiggled and wobbled and made my -hands simply ache. At last I got a ball of Auntie May's crewel wools -to hold scrumped up into the shape of Petronilla. That was when he was -doing my hands. I washed them first.'</p> - -<p>'And is it like you—the portrait?'</p> - -<p>'I don't know,' said Rosamond carelessly. 'Grandpapa keeps it in a -corner with a lot of old easels and things on top of it. He is going -to finish it, some day, when I'm altered. Now, Amerye, you can tell us -about the Zoo.'</p> - -<p>Amerye began in a great hurry, for fear, I suppose, Rosamond took back -her permission.</p> - -<p>'Well, when I was in London I was always asking Auntie May to take me -to the Zoo—teased her, <i>she</i> said, and gave her no peace—and she kept -putting off and putting off, saying she was too busy. She never seemed -able to fix a day. But one afternoon when we were out paying calls—'</p> - -<p>'I suppose she left you in the hall then? She did me sometimes.'</p> - -<p>'Not often,' said Amerye, 'and if there were children in the call I -always went up to them. We got into a bus—'</p> - -<p>'Is that a kind of trap?' said Kitty.</p> - -<p>'All carriages are traps, but all traps aren't carriages, dear Kitty,' -said Rosamond. 'Don't interrupt till the end. Go on, Amerye.'</p> - -<p>'We bundled along for many miles and then stopped at the garden gate of -a house, and got out and paid a shilling and a sixpence and went in. -It was a very railey garden with walks between, and I said, "Is it a -long walk up to the house?" and Auntie May said it was. There were some -long-legged birds walking in the grass beside us and some deer, but I -didn't notice them much, for I was anxious to find out if any children -were there. There were several gardeners in livery walking about. Then -we came to a cage with some owls in it bobbing up and down—'</p> - -<p>'Like that dear brown one,' said Kitty, 'that lived in the crooked tree -for three months and then went to the devil, father said.'</p> - -<p>'And I said to Auntie May, "Your friends seem very fond of animals," -and she said, "Oh yes, perfectly mad on beasts, they are!" Then we went -under a low archway, and there we met two lots of children carrying -buns, and I must say I thought them very rude carrying away their -teas like that. But I said nothing out loud, only I hoped I should be -allowed to go up to nursery tea at the house, as there seemed quite a -lot of children about, and it would be fun—'</p> - -<p>'Now you have gone on long enough,' said Rosamond. 'Tell her what it -was.'</p> - -<p>'It was the Zoo. For I then saw a camel and a bear much too large for -any private house, and I said to Auntie May, "Oh, Auntie May, you have -brought me to the Zoo after all."'</p> - -<p>'I love that story,' said Kitty. 'And then tell how a man gave you some -monstrous biscuits for the bears and Auntie May gave him sixpence. And -how then you met a man who was king of the Zoo!'</p> - -<p>'Yes,' said Amerye, 'and he gave the bears some Nestlé's milk, and let -Auntie May have a baby wolf to hold in her arms. Its mother seemed a -very nice collie dog, like Meg. And then—and then'—(Kitty shrieked -with delight)—'he went into the cage beside a Snow leopard, a thing -just like a large cat—'</p> - -<p>It was here that <i>I</i> got so excited that I leaped up on to the bed on -to the top of them.</p> - -<p>'Oh, here's dear Loki! Come up, Loki, and hear about the leopard. Make -yourself comfortable, and if you <i>must</i> stick your claws in and out, do -it where the clothes are thickest, that is all we ask you. Go on, Amy.'</p> - -<p>'This man went in and the leopard was asleep in a corner. He climbed -up a sort of tree and pulled its legs.'</p> - -<p>'Brave man! Didn't he spoil his clothes and get scolded?'</p> - -<p>'Yes, jolly well scolded by his wife who stayed outside. He said it -didn't matter, for this little game would soon have to come to an end, -for the leopard was getting a big boy now. It came after him rubbing -about like a cat, and it lay down all curly, and invited him to play -with it, and nipped the edge of his trousers, and he took it up all of -a piece, as we take up Loki, and it crowded all over him, but it was -happiest biting his legs and his hand. Then it got wilder and wilder -and wanted him to roll over too, and he got frightened and he came out, -and his wife dusted the sawdust off him.'</p> - -<p>'Is that all the leopard?' asked Kitty.</p> - -<p>'Yes, that is all. I wish there was some more for Loki's sake. I must -not tell you about the kangaroos with their children in their pockets -coming hopping across the ground up to us, it will bore poor Loki—oh, -I'll tell you about the cat-house, where I saw the very king of cats -that lived in Egypt and was praised.'</p> - -<p>'How praised?' asked Kitty.</p> - -<p>'Why, put on a high chair and said prayers to. That's praised. The man -and Auntie May were talking about them and saying that they were an -ugly breed of cats to be set above all the others—why, Kitty, you're -asleep! You <i>are</i> rude!'</p> - -<p>'No, I'm not,' said Kitty. 'I am only pretending.'</p> - -<p>'Nonsense! You sound all bunged up with sleep,' said Rosamond, in a -queer smothery tone. 'This is my bed and I want it myself. Hoof her -out, Amerye.'</p> - -<p>'I'll go of my own self,' said Kitty, 'because you're both getting -dull. Good-night, you <i>un</i>-lovers.'</p> - -<p>She slipped out and went back to her crib.</p> - -<p>'I <i>am</i> rather tired, I see,' she said as she climbed in, dragging her -legs after her. (I was too tired myself to go after them.) 'I'm a bit -good-for-nothing, like mother. Good-night.'</p> - -<p>Rosamond and Amerye had a fight as to which of them should have <i>me</i>, -but I settled that by slipping away and finding a nice high undraughty -place on the chiffonnier. They always absurdly imagine we want a bed. -As it was quite dark, and they weren't allowed matches, Rosamond and -Amerye gave up all hope of finding me, and went to sleep, and snored, a -sound which is more like our purring than anything else I ever heard.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> - -<h3>THE SURPRISE THAT FELL FLAT</h3> - - -<p>It was the day that Auntie May and Tom and Beatrice were to come home, -and the children were very anxious to welcome them in some special -way. Welcoming always seems with children to mean doing something they -like, and that the grown-up people are not likely to like, and this is -exactly what happened.</p> - -<p>They told Mrs. Gilmour a little about it, but not all, and asked if -she did not think dressing-up was the best way of welcoming father and -mother. It is extraordinary how naughty old ladies can be, far worse -than children, when they give their minds to it.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Gilmour suggested that they should all take off their skirts to -begin with, and appear in their blue serge knickerbockers, and then she -would see what could be done. Rosamond dirtied her face and put on a -large tattered hat with no regular brim, and let one stocking fall down -to show her knee, cut on purpose, and she said she was a backwoodsman -out of Jules Verne. Kitty had already rather short hair, and she cut it -shorter herself, till in five minutes she looked exactly like a badly -barbered boy. Mrs. Gilmour let her. Did I not say she was a wicked -old lady? As for Amerye, she disappeared, and I heard that she went -into the housemaid's pantry and got her box of black lead and blacked -herself all over with it, imitating the sweep in the <i>Water-Babies</i> who -went to sleep in little Ellie's room. She then went and lay down in -Beatrice's pretty bed. Mrs. Gilmour never missed her; she was so busy -knitting me a pair of socks—one could hardly call it a pair, Rosamond -said, the only thing to do was to call it a quartette. I wished to -oblige and share in the nice surprise they meant to give Beatrice, so -I kept them on, all except one; for I had to have a hind paw left free -ready to scratch myself with, and took up my place on the hall mat -about the time Auntie May was due. I always wait for her.</p> - -<p>At last we heard the noise of wheels. Rosamond got behind the door, and -Mrs. Gilmour stood with her hand on Kitty's shoulder, who looked truly -hideous, and waited, all on the broad grin.</p> - -<p>When the trap drove up there was only Auntie May in it, the others had -stopped at the east gate to speak to one of the foresters. So Auntie -May had the surprise all to herself, and she seemed more surprised than -pleased. She got out and cried out:</p> - -<p>'They've sent me on to order tea. We are all frozen. How are you, Mrs. -Gilmour? Who is that boy you have got with you?'</p> - -<p>'It is a little boy I borrowed to keep me company while you were all -away,' said Mrs. Gilmour, running her hands through Kitty's hair.</p> - -<p>'What a queer-looking child! Looks as if he had water on the brain!' -Auntie May said in a low voice, but Kitty heard.</p> - -<p>Then Auntie May took <i>me</i> up in her arms and mumbled me, and kissed me. -'Sweetums! Didums! Who's been making a fool of you with your red socks? -Poor lamb, get out of them at once. I see they worry you. Mercy, who -is this?' as Rosamond bounced out at her. 'Rosamond, what an object! -Have you been gardening? You <i>are</i> filthy. Don't come near me until you -are cleaned up, please. You seem all to have quite gone mad. But never -mind, so long as we get a cup of hot tea. Here's Beatrice at last. -Beatrice, I have ordered tea. I simply couldn't wait!'</p> - -<p>Those idiotic children rushed off to the schoolroom in a body and -howled. Kitty had cut off her hair so that her own aunt did not know -her, and the chances were that her own mother wouldn't either, she -thought. In fact, the surprise had been a horrid failure. I could have -told her that her own mother would know her fast enough if she <i>chose</i> -to, and would, moreover, punish her well for having cut off her own fur -like that without waiting for the barber, who comes once a month to -barber them all properly.</p> - -<p>Sure enough, there was an awful to-do, especially when they found -Amerye playing sweep in her mother's nice clean bed with pink hangings. -Kitty and Amerye were sent to bed without any supper except a bit -of dry bread, and Rosamond, not having done anything particular to -herself—trust her not to make herself ugly!—was scolded for having -allowed Kitty to cut her own hair all crooked across the forehead. -Only Mrs. Gilmour, the grown-up lady who had helped it all on, got off -without a scolding, as they always do.</p> - -<p>I was scolded for one or two little things I had done while Auntie May -was away, and especially for the packet of tapestry nails or pins, -whatever you do call the horrid things that I shall never see again -without a shudder and feeling myself all over.</p> - -<p>'I tell you what, May,' said Beatrice. 'I am resigned to Loki's passing -his nose over everything, reading postcards and docketing bills and -superintending the post generally, but when it comes to opening my -parcels for me, I do think it is too much. There were, I believe, a -thousand nails in that packet he demolished. I can't fag to count them -over now, but if their number is incomplete, I should say that the -balance was in your cat's stomach. <i>He</i> knows, probably.'</p> - -<p>I did <i>not</i> know, they were such trifling, two-penny-halfpenny things -that one of them might easily have stuck to my tongue in turning them -over. The dread saddened my last days at Crook Hall.</p> - -<p>On the whole it had been a very pleasant time. They had made me quite -one of the family, allowing me to share their meals, their pains, their -scoldings, and their games. No one could beat me at romps, but in the -six-to-seven, when they played card games, I was a little out of it. -There was the 'Kings of England' that Auntie May and Beatrice always -quarrelled over, and the 'Flower Loto' in which Auntie May, not being a -country person, seemed such a muff, and the 'Towns' game where Rosamond -was such a dab because of her good memory, and the 'Pictures in the -National Gallery' which was the one Kitty liked best. She was pretty -quick, but she made such a hash of the pronunciation of the names of -the pictures that the others laughed at her, and yet she generally won. -She would say, very politely, because she knew she could not pronounce -it:</p> - -<p>'Will you give me please, Rosamond, the Fighting—oh dear, I can hardly -pernounce it—the Fighting Temenare, by Turner?'</p> - -<p>'The Fighting Temeraire, I suppose you mean, Kitty,' Rosamond would -reply chillingly, not even troubling to say that she hadn't got it. -'Infant Samuel, Amerye? Look sharp!'</p> - -<p>'Ain't got him, my dear child. Kitty, Infant Samuel?'</p> - -<p>'Not at home, I regret to say. Rosamond, will you, if you please, give -me Dignity and <i>Imperence</i>, by Landseer, unless it is the one I see you -have just let fall into the <i>wasperbasket</i>.'</p> - -<p>'I can give you Dignity,' said Rosamond, forking it up out of the -wastepaper basket, where, sure enough, it was where Kitty said it had -fallen. 'And you have got the other, haven't you, already?'</p> - -<p>'They <i>do</i> go together,' said Kitty, not seeing that Rosamond wanted to -snub her. And that's the way they went on.</p> - -<p>It was lovely, and I could have stayed there for ever, only at home -Auntie May's papa was growing impatient. He wrote to Auntie May -continually, to ask why in the name of wonder, if Beatrice was better, -Auntie May didn't come home. He said slily he thought the maids were -getting into bad ways, and didn't prepare the cats' meals properly, and -that Petronilla was pining, and that her two kittens had ceased to obey -her, in fact were becoming unmanageable.</p> - -<p>He asked who this Mr. Fox was, and seemed to think he was the reason -Auntie May didn't come home. I could have told him better than that, -for whenever Mr. Fox came Auntie May said, 'What a bore! I shall have -to shut poor Loki up. You hate the nasty man, Loki, don't you?'</p> - -<p>'One tame cat always resents another,' said Mrs. Gilmour.</p> - -<p>'Ah, do they? We shall be going home for Christmas,' said Auntie May, -'and then Mr. Fox will be able to breathe freely.'</p> - -<p>'He lives in London in the winter, I believe,' said Beatrice.</p> - -<p>'Well, London's wide. He won't need to run up against Loki and me any -more, unless he likes,' said Auntie May, and she packed up her trunks -(I know of nothing more delightful to sit in than a trunk on crackly -paper, until you are turned out) and back we went.</p> - -<p>I had become quite a good traveller by this time, and had my system. -That is to lie quite still, curled round, to let nobody or nothing -disturb you, and not to be persuaded to look out of the basket for love -or fish till the train rushes through the tunnels into King's Cross -station.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> - -<h3>FROM TOP TO BOTTOM</h3> - - -<p>The moment we arrived at No. 100 Egerton Gardens Auntie May, finding -out that her father had just gone round to his club, rushed upstairs to -find her family, while I trotted at her heels, and screamed out before -she had used her eyes almost:</p> - -<p>'Oh, my darling dearest old Petronilla! They tell me that you have been -pining for me.'</p> - -<p>Mother had her nose buried in a saucer of milk, and waited a moment -before she looked up, then she let Auntie May take her in her arms -and 'poor-poor' her, and she herself began to purr very prettily, but -still there was a good deal of difference between the two greetings. -It isn't that mother has no feelings, but that she is good at hiding -them. As for Zobeide and Freddy, they were biting each other's heads -off at the other end of the room, and took no notice. I didn't want -to distract mother from being nice to Auntie May, so I went up to my -brother and sister and spoke to them. But they had no time to listen to -me, and their game looked so exciting that I was roped in before I knew -where I was, and Fred rolled me over and punched me with his hind legs -by mistake for Zobeide. So that was all the how-do-you-do that I got, -after three months' separation. As for mother, when she was done with -Auntie May, she just gave me a comprehensive lick that seemed to say -everything.</p> - -<p>Home was delightful enough after that. And then mother's accident came.</p> - -<p>Mother is still very playful for her age, and people notice it. You can -get her all lengths with a bit of string, and none of us can beat her -in a helter-skelter race from the top of the house to the bottom. You -hear her bumping on each story like an india-rubber ball. (We could -never play this game except when Mr. Graham was out. The old make -everything so stiff. Auntie May had no objection.) Sometimes when we -felt very fresh we chased mother <i>upstairs</i>, which is much more tiring, -and it was when we were doing this that the accident happened.</p> - -<p>Mother got a good start of us, and Fred was after her like a wild cat. -He soon got close to her heels, and kept it up all the way to Auntie -May's room at the very top of the house. The window of that room was -open, but Freddy was too wild to see it. He simply chased mother across -the room and out of the window, very nearly following her himself, but -able to arrest his mad course on the sill just in time. I, too, managed -to stop on the floor behind, and I said to my brother gravely:</p> - -<p>'You've never gone and chased mother out of the window, Fred?'</p> - -<p>He said, 'I am sure I don't know. Where <i>has</i> mother got to?' He seemed -quite stunned.</p> - -<p>Then Auntie May came up, quite out of breath, followed by Mary, to whom -she said:</p> - -<p>'Mary, I saw something like a streak of silver lightning go past Mr. -Graham's room, where I was sorting his collars. Is it possible that it -was poor Pet?'</p> - -<p>She looked out of the window, and told Mary she could see nothing. -Freddy had got into a corner under something.</p> - -<p>'Perhaps, Miss,' said Mary, 'she's that mangled as to be -unrecognisable! The young girl that fell in my mother's street was -taken up all mashed up like—'</p> - -<p>Auntie May didn't say anything at all, but just went downstairs to look -if what Mary said was true. Nobody thought of preventing me and Fred, -so we went along too.</p> - -<p>Our mistress first looked all over the yard, where mother, if she -really <i>had</i> fallen out of the window, was bound to have come down. But -there was nothing there. Only there was a little tiny smear of blood on -the edge of the tin dustbin. I heard them say so.</p> - -<p>Auntie May grew quite pale, and went to the other side of the house -that was connected with the common garden. We followed her. There, sure -enough, we all saw poor mother hiding under a laurel bush, and shaking -like a leaf. Her lip was bleeding. She must have picked herself up when -she first fell, and run all the way round by the tradesmen's entrance.</p> - -<p>'Oh, mother,' cried Fred, who got to her first, 'what have you been and -done to yourself?'</p> - -<p>'Hush!' said mother. 'I cut my lip on the dustbin in falling, that's -all. Bit my tongue, I think. Don't make a fuss—don't say anything!'</p> - -<p>But Auntie May had taken poor mother up very gently in her arms, and -felt her. 'Poor, poor thing! She seems quite dazed—but no bones -broken, I think?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, Miss, them cats could fall out of Heaven and not hurt theirselves, -I do believe. Cat o' nine tails, indeed—'</p> - -<p>'Nine lives, Mary. Here, come along in and get me the whisky and a -spoon!'</p> - -<p>She sat by the fire with mother spread out on her knee, and petted -her and stroked her, and poured a tiny drop of whisky and water down -her throat. She sat nursing her like that for two hours, mother told -me afterwards, for long before that Mary had marched Freddy and me -upstairs, holding us like a string of onions.</p> - -<p>Later in the day mother was brought up and put to bed, very weak and -disinclined to talk. She never scolded either Freddy or me, feeling, no -doubt, that she began it by romping with us, and the matter was never -discussed again.</p> - -<p>I fell out of the very same window myself a year later. It was entirely -my own fault and Mary's habit of being too free with her hands. I was -quietly sitting on the window sill, watching the fat birds fly past the -stone coping, and giving their children walking lessons up the tiles of -the roof opposite, when Mary came in to do the room.</p> - -<p>'Hullo, Boy!' she said, and put out her hand to stroke me. Now, I -always back when people threaten to stroke me—it's a habit—and I -backed on to nothing! Over I went, and I remember nothing more till -I came down whack on the very identical dustbin that poor mother had -cut herself on. I did not cut my lip, but I bit my tongue. I had to -pick myself up, for though poor Mary, as she said, set off running -downstairs as soon as she saw me begin to go, I got to the bottom first.</p> - -<p>'Gracious goodness me! Whatever'll Miss May say? I've done for myself. -Hold up yer head, will yer, and let's see if there's not some life in -yer. Oh, you naughty aggravating thing to bleed at the lip so!'</p> - -<p>'Wipe it off, can't you, Mary?' I said, and she did so with the hem of -her cotton dress.</p> - -<p>'You ain't much hurt after all!' she said, when she had cleaned me up. -She did not notice that I had got my mouth all lop-sided with breaking -one of my long teeth on the right side. I regretted this, for it was -unsymmetrical. I was quite able to walk in, and took it easy for the -rest of the afternoon on the best arm-chair.</p> - -<p>Auntie May was out, so I didn't get any whisky, and when she came in I -told her.</p> - -<p>'Oh, what a long, long story!' said she. 'And what is it all about? -Daddy, he is telling me something that has happened to him as hard as -he can—such a piteous tale!'</p> - -<p>'He threw himself out of the window, Miss,' said Mary, passing by. Of -course I couldn't contradict her, and I didn't want to either, she was -a good soul, was Mary, and I bore her no malice. Cats never do, it's -your precious dogs that remember grievances.</p> - -<p>'I always used to jeer,' said Auntie May to some friends who were -calling next day, 'when people said that cats did not hurt themselves -when they fall, but now I see they are right. Both mine have had their -little experience of this kind, and I am happy to say are not one penny -the worse!'</p> - -<p>She hadn't noticed my short tooth. I found out at the cat-party how -unsightly it was, and what a blemish.</p> - -<p>A friend of Auntie May's, who had three beautiful Persians, gave -a cat-party, and asked Auntie May to it. It was at four o'clock, -refreshments at five, and a dark room provided for cats that would not -behave or fraternise. We three had all bows of different colours, put -on us for once, but at the last minute mother shirked it, and hid so -that Auntie May could not find her. So she had to leave her behind. The -party was not very far off, only across the garden, so she carried us -one under each arm.</p> - -<p>There were about thirty cats at Mrs. Felton's, and only nine of them -were grey like us. There was a ginger cat, with a Roman ribbon round -his neck, who took a fancy to me. Freddy could not be parted from a -white girl-cat; he likes girls, I hate them. I mean never to marry, but -Fred liked female society from the very first. Then there was a black -cat who had been on the stage. He said he had been very much neglected -in his youth, and once had been walking about on the tops of roofs -till he got too far away from his home, and suddenly found himself, -on jumping down some steps, or ladder, or something, in a great wide -covered place, with people on it, shouting.</p> - -<p>They all stopped when they saw him, and a man with a stick rapped it -and said 'Attention—please, ladies <i>and</i> gentlemen.'</p> - -<p>He was the business manager, and the black cat had jumped into the -middle of a dress rehearsal. The real manager was acting, and he took -no notice of the black cat till he was done, and then he wouldn't -have it chased away, for, said he, a black cat brings good luck to a -theatre. So they fed him, and he lived there, and had perfect liberty -to walk about where he pleased. He did go where he pleased, and whether -they were acting or not it made no difference to him, he just walked -on, so they call it, and smelt their boots, or sat on the ladies' -trains, or licked up stage tea-trays if he liked. The reason he was -here was that he was the guest of the manager's daughter, who had taken -him off the stage because he had brought luck to her father's piece. -But he often sighed for the nice merry days.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus6"> - <img src="images/illus6.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>A BLACK CAT BRINGS GOOD LUCK TO A THEATRE.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>There were little saucers of milk and warm Ridge's Food dotted about -the room, one for each cat. Fred and the white cat, however, chose to -drink out of the same saucer. Some of the cats would not stay to be -spoken to, but slunk under chairs, and one nice tom hissed and spat. I -did feel so ashamed of him. He was left severely to himself while the -games were going on, and I was so sorry for him that I went and spoke -to him.</p> - -<p>'Do you live near here?' I asked.</p> - -<p>'Yes,' he said, 'and I wish I was there now. I don't care for this sort -of function. I don't see why I should be asked to sit on my hind legs -and talk to every idiot who comes up and strokes me and says "Puss! -Puss!" I keep thinking of my nice place on the hearthrug at home, and a -little tag—what do you call it?—in the hearthrug that I play with. It -is worth all these fine toys to me. I would not play with that absurd -mouse they are trailing along the ground with shrieks and cries and -"Come ons" for anything. It disgusts me. It is too expensive a toy!'</p> - -<p>For They held up their skirts and played with us, squeaking and -miauling to imitate us. They don't imitate us half as well as the -parrot imitates Them, and I am told that is pretty much the same thing. -The younger kittens took a polite interest in the toy mouse, but we -elders preferred conversation with really sensible cats, and if they -would only have left us alone, we might have enjoyed ourselves. Auntie -May was as bad as the rest, she would keep trying to make me sit on her -knee when I didn't want to, and I had to do it so as not to disgrace -her by disobedience.</p> - -<p>There was a woman talking to her about the habits of cats, and trying -to get hints from my mistress, whom I gathered was rather a boss, about -the care and management of 'kits,' as she would call them.</p> - -<p>'I am such a novice,' said she, 'a mere beginner. But I shall hope to -be showing in a year or so—'</p> - -<p>'I never show,' said Auntie May. 'I think it is most unkind, for the -sake of a wretched prize that you have to subscribe to furnish, to -subject your pet to all those horrid experiences—fleas, frights, -colds, and all the rest of it—'</p> - -<p>'Oh, but I see you make quite a friend of <i>your</i> cats. May I ask if you -allow your kittens to sleep alone? At what age?'</p> - -<p>'As soon as possible,' said Auntie May. 'I never coddle them or allow -them to think of being afraid of the dark.'</p> - -<p>'But don't they cry out and rend your heart? That one, for instance,' -she pointed to Fred, who was crawling up her at the moment.</p> - -<p>'This one!' said Auntie May, stooping to pick up Fred. 'Oh, Fred never -cries—he breaks. If I put him to sleep alone in my study, he does what -he can to show me that it won't do. Many's the time I have come in -apprehensively in the morning and found a mush of fragments of china -or glass on the floor. He writes his name in ink across blank sheets -of paper, he pulls all my correspondence out of my pigeon-holes and -lays it in rows for me to see without labour, he separates shoes and -earrings and gloves and everything that likes to live in a pair. Oh, he -is a regular demon, I <i>must</i> get rid of him some day.'</p> - -<p>'Don't sell him to me,' said the lady affectedly, 'after the character -you have given him.'</p> - -<p>By six o'clock carriages were ordered. There was a great chivying, -and would any one believe that some of them did not know their own -cats? Auntie May knew hers, no fear. Some of us had been sick, but -the hostess said it didn't matter, as she had put a drugget down to -avert the evils of such a contingency. I am not a bit ashamed of being -sick any more than Auntie May is ashamed of blowing her nose. It is a -perfectly natural action.</p> - -<p>We none of us said Goodbye to each other. They never gave us time. Fred -and his white cat were really a little sorry to part, but they said -nothing, only she gave him a look over her mistress's shoulder which -seemed to say, 'I hope we shall meet again.'</p> - -<p>I did not want to see any one of them again except the theatrical cat, -who was a jolly sort of cheerful beast. I forgot to say there was a -Manx cat there, without a tail; its mother had bitten it off in a -temper when it was young, I suppose. It was an awkward creature, -and the white cat spat at him and told him he wasn't the only cat on -the tiles. He had been making himself very civil to her, but she was a -very unconventional young lady, I was told, and if she liked you she -did, and if she didn't she wouldn't stop in the same room with you, and -thickened all the way down when she was forced to obey.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus7"> - <img src="images/illus7.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>I DID NOT WANT TO SEE ANY ONE OF THEM AGAIN.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Auntie May shouldered her own two, and said Goodbye. She did not get a -very good hold, and we both of us oozed out under her arm in the square -garden, and she was in a terrible way. We teased her a little bit, but -we saw the poor thing was tired, so came back to her.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> - -<h3>CATAPUK</h3> - - -<p>About the spring time, when the grass in the square garden was not so -often wet and the birds made more noise there and the nests were more -plentiful, Auntie May seemed not so very well.</p> - -<p>She always had the hardest knee in the house to sit on, though it was -the nicest knee, and now her fingers grew so thin that the rings began -to drop off them, and then <i>we</i> were accused of having taken them. I -believe it was for this reason that she suddenly began to say that she -must go away.</p> - -<p>'And leave us?' we said, when she told us.</p> - -<p>'I don't think I can make up my mind to leave you, dears,' she said, -just as if she had understood our remarks, which of course she did not. -'Fancy waking up in the morning all alone by myself instead of being -waked by one of you putting your paw in my mouth! I can't picture it. -No, I'll stay here and die.'</p> - -<p>'Nonsense!' her father would say. 'You must live, dear, if not for my -sake, for the sake of the cats. Let us think of something to amuse -you and make you forget your family for a while. Why not go up to see -Beatrice?'</p> - -<p>'No, I don't want to go and stay with Beatrice.' She and Beatrice were -cross with each other just then, I happened to know, and truly Auntie -May's temper was not exactly even nowadays. She had been known to say -that we got on her nerves, and that there were too many of us. We knew -she was out of sorts by that alone.</p> - -<p>'Why not try Folkestone with your Aunt Cecilia?'</p> - -<p>'An old cat!'</p> - -<p>'What about Mrs. Gilmour at Bournemouth?'</p> - -<p>'Another!' It was easy to see she was ill.</p> - -<p>'Then come with me to the Riviera?'</p> - -<p>'That would be lovely, but, dear Daddy, I could not possibly take you -away from your Academy picture.'</p> - -<p>'Then,' said the poor old man in desperation, 'go to America and read -passages from your own works and make a fortune.'</p> - -<p>He was at his wit's end or he would not have proposed anything so -absurd and improper as that. He said no more, but I sometimes saw him -watching her with tears in his eyes.</p> - -<p>When her hair began to come out in handfuls she herself agreed that -something must be done.</p> - -<p>'I think I will go and live in Paris for a bit and study.'</p> - -<p>'But, my dear child, you don't know anybody there.'</p> - -<p>'That's just the point. I shall change the scene completely and get out -of myself.'</p> - -<p>That seems an odd and impossible sort of thing to do, but it isn't the -first time I have heard people speak of performing this feat. Cats -can't, and wouldn't want to, I fancy.</p> - -<p>The old man said he couldn't think of allowing it, and she at once -wrote for rooms to an address she knew. He said it would never do, and -she answered the woman's letter who kept the pension and took the rooms -for a month.</p> - -<p>Then <i>we</i> were the difficulty. She could not think of leaving us to -Mary, who was good but careless, and she thought of a certain place she -had heard of at Gunnersbury where they boarded cats.</p> - -<p>Mother disliked the idea very much, but what could she do? We were all -three put in baskets and taken in a cab. Gunnersbury seemed partly -country when we got out, but I saw very little, for we were hustled -into the house, and our fastenings not undone till we were in a garden -with wire cages or houses in it that they called 'cat-runs.'</p> - -<p>A young lady in a grey voile frock trimmed with blue ribbons was -sweeping one of the wire places out, and she seemed to be no relation -to the mistress of the cattery, just a friend.</p> - -<p>'I am single-handed just now,' the old lady said. 'My daughter, who -helps me, is away, taking King Henry the Eighth to a cat-show, but Miss -Joldwin—<i>such</i> a nice girl, and so well connected!—is good enough to -come here and help me turn out the cages twice a day!'</p> - -<p>I don't see why because Miss Joldwin was a pedigree-woman she should be -too good to sweep out a cattery, but I do think she might have put a -pinafore on, and said so.</p> - -<p>'Dear little fellow, he is very lively and talkative!' said the old -woman to me. 'I know I shall make a pet of you, I shall.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, no favouritism, Mrs. Jennings, please,' said Auntie May. 'I -should like them all to be kept together, if you don't mind, as much -as possible. They are a very united and loving family. Fred, do leave -Zobeide alone! You are nearly murdering her.'</p> - -<p>'Pretty little spirited dears,' murmured the woman, and I hated her. -'Come here! Kittie! Kittie!'</p> - -<p>I wouldn't come here, and I saw that Auntie May was pleased. She soon -after took her leave, whispering to us:</p> - -<p>'Now keep yourselves to yourselves, my dears, and though you must be -civil to other cats, don't make great friends. I shan't be away long; -I feel I shan't be able to stand it. Eat what you are given, and don't -have fancies. Don't climb up the old woman. Be civil to her, but no -more. Now goodbye, pets—angels—darlings—I <i>must</i> tear myself away!'</p> - -<p>She tore herself away, and we were left alone in the wire house with -a sort of box thing inside where we were expected to retire for the -night. It wasn't bad, and the food was excellent.</p> - -<p>I cannot tell the clock, and I never know either what time or what -day of the week it is, so I cannot say how long we were all together -in this cattery. It may have been a month. But one day (I had been -taken into the house, for I was a good cat and allowed to sit on the -dining-room woolly rug) I heard a well-known voice in the hall saying:</p> - -<p>'No, thank you. There is no necessity for me to see it. I leave the -selection of the kitten to you. So long as the animal is ready packed -in a basket and so forth, all ready for my servant to fetch and hand -over to me at Charing Cross, that will do. Thank you, ten-thirty. He -will call here half an hour before. Good morning!'</p> - -<p>It was the voice of Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>Mother said, 'It sounds as if one of you was going to leave me! This -wretched man seems to have bought a kitten of Auntie May and doesn't -even care which!'</p> - -<p>'Mr. Fox buy a cat!' I cried. 'He simply hates us; he can't bear to be -in the room with one of us. Don't you remember, I told you all about -him at Crook Hall?'</p> - -<p>'I cannot explain it!' said mother. 'Perhaps he is going to give you to -some one? I wish I knew what places one goes to from Charing Cross. But -there is no cat's Bradshaw, alas!'</p> - -<p>I was taken away by a groom—I smelt his clothes through the -basket—next day, as arranged. We got into a noisy place full of -people talking, and I felt myself being transferred to Mr. Fox's hands, -and didn't he take hold of the handle of the basket that contained -me as if it was a hot coal! I wondered why he didn't put me in the -guard's van; but no, he stuck to me and put me down on the seat of the -compartment, just as Auntie May did, and then went as far off me as he -could go, for I could tell the distance by the rustle of the newspaper -he opened, and read fiercely all the way. I learned that we were going -to cross the sea from the conversation of two ladies in the same -compartment.</p> - -<p>'Do you think it is going to be rough, guard? Have you heard what the -sea is like at Dover?'</p> - -<p>'Like a mill pond, ma'am.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, I do hope—' said one.</p> - -<p>'I suffer so always!' said the other.</p> - -<p>'Not worse than me, surely? Nobody could. I shall die in crossing some -day. What is that in the basket? Is it a bird or a cat? I saw a parrot -once crossing. I believe it was sick, or was it only imitating the -dreadful noise people make? I wonder if cats are sick?'</p> - -<p>I wondered too. Not that I mind being sick, as I said before, and I -thought They were making a great deal too much of it.</p> - -<p>I didn't like it, though, when we got to Dover, and Mr. Fox shouldered -me and carried me down a ladder and on to something that wobbled -gently. There was a horrible smell—that was the worst of it—a kind of -salt prick in the air, that I didn't like. Mr. Fox handed me to a man, -saying:</p> - -<p>'Here, take care of this animal for me—you see it is labelled -"Valuable Cat"—and look after it till we get to Calais!'</p> - -<p>'Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who smelt of salt too.</p> - -<p>This sailor planked me down somewhere, and never noticed me till -there was a shouting and a trampling and a hauling and a slowing-down -movement. Then the big thing that breathed in the middle stopped, and -there was no noise except of voices. Quite a nice rest. The sailor came -back and took me up, and put me back into the hands of Mr. Fox, who -gave him something he said 'Thank ye!' for, and who then carried me up -the ladder himself. I wished I could have seen his face. I am sure he -was pale, though perhaps in the strong smell of salt he didn't notice -the smell of me so much, and didn't feel so ill. I don't know, for, as -I say, I never saw his face.</p> - -<p>He never undid me, but sat quite close to me on the rattlingest train -I ever was in, far worse than the boat. The two ladies said so. They -happened to have got into the same carriage as we did, and from their -subdued sort of manner I think they had both been very ill.</p> - -<p>'I wonder how the cat got on?' said one in a very weak voice.</p> - -<p>'I don't know, I'm sure, nor care,' said the other. Then in a lower -voice she said:</p> - -<p>'The man doesn't look very fit; he's green. I expect he has had an -awful time!'</p> - -<p>I wanted to cry out and say, 'You are quite mistaken. That is the -effect of <i>me</i>!' but of course I couldn't do anything but scrabble -about a little on the sides of the basket. They seemed to be eating an -enormous luncheon! I had a parcel of fish in with me loosely done up -that I could easily have got at, but I never eat on a journey. I make -up for it afterwards.</p> - -<p>We stopped twice, and people cried out things, but at last we stopped -and did not go on again.</p> - -<p>'<i>C'est Paris?</i>' said one of the ladies, and then I knew that she was -half French, and was probably going home. I thought of Auntie May, who -I knew was in Paris, but somehow I was quite surprised to hear her -voice—a very thin and weak little voice—speaking to Mr. Fox on the -platform.</p> - -<p>'Oh, Mr. Fox, I <i>never</i> can thank you enough. And you, of all people, -who hate cats so, to offer to bring me Loki. Tell me, how did you get -on?'</p> - -<p>'Very fairly,' said he. 'I do not choose to let this kind of thing get -hold of me. I'm all right, thanks, and glad to be able to do you this -little service.'</p> - -<p>We all walked along—I was carried of course—till we came to some kind -of barrier, and they wouldn't let Auntie May pass. She had forgotten to -take a platform ticket, it appeared.</p> - -<p>'I shall stay here, then,' said she to Mr. Fox. 'You go through with -this ticket, and I shall see whether these foreigners will have the -cheek to keep me.' I believe she winked. She was so happy at having got -me. She made Mr. Fox obey her, telling him to wait for her on the other -side, and she sat down on a seat and took me on her knee, and kissed me.</p> - -<p>'I shall get well much faster now I have a soft sweet grey cat to -cuddle,' said she. 'I wonder how Mr. Fox knew that? And to offer -<i>himself</i> as a messenger, of all people! I don't believe he had <i>any</i> -business engagement in Paris at all, I believe it is pure philanthropy!'</p> - -<p>Presently an official came and argued with her in French. She was very -sweet to him, on the principle that a soft answer turns away wrath, and -sure enough she worked it, for presently he said sharply, '<i>Passez, -Mademoiselle!</i>' which means 'Go on.'</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox had examined his luggage, and was waiting for her on the other -side of the barrier.</p> - -<p>'Oh, why did you wait?' she said. 'I should think now I have Loki with -me you would want to give me a wide berth?'</p> - -<p>'I don't <i>want</i> to,' said he, 'but my unfortunate peculiarity is sure -to assert its sway over me. Let me, at least, put you into a cab.'</p> - -<p>'And shall I not have the pleasure of seeing you while you are in -Paris?'</p> - -<p>'I am afraid I must not venture to come and see you and risk a scene?' -He laughed; he had a nice laugh. 'But will you be very kind, and come -to lunch with me to-morrow at Durand's? I go back at night.'</p> - -<p>'But,' she said, 'I thought you said you had to be in Paris on -business, and that was why you would bring me Loki? That is what Daddy -assured me you said when he told you I was pining for him.'</p> - -<p>'I can get through the business I have to do in the morning before -lunch,' said he, quite shortly, and whisked us into a cab and paid it, -and told the man to drive us to Rue Chauvau La Garde.</p> - -<p>Miss Florence Pettigrew—that was the name of the woman who kept the -<i>pension</i> Auntie May had settled to go to—was a pretty, very little -woman, and reminded me somehow of the Manx cat, she seemed shortened -somewhere, somehow. She opened the door to us and I heard her greeting -Auntie May, and took a dislike to her at once from the basket. I didn't -like her any better when I was taken out. I'm sure she had a wooden leg.</p> - -<p>'Well, so that's the cat. I hope he means to have good manners in -my flat. I don't want my nice new furniture torn to bits, you know, -Graham.'</p> - -<p>That was Auntie May's surname, but I had never heard her called that -before. Auntie May was shown to her room and asked if she would have -hot water, but she sat down on the bed and cried, and cuddled me, and -said, 'Well, Loki, this is life!'</p> - -<p>I thought she didn't like life much just now, when we went in to -dinner. Manxie, as I always called her, kept telling us that she had -had to get fish on purpose for Auntie May, but she couldn't afford it -for herself. No, what she had was three-pennyworth of meat a day for -herself, and that was enough for any woman. I thought she seemed more -like a Manx cat than ever, with her daily allowance of cat's meat, for -she couldn't have got proper people's meat for that price!</p> - -<p>Auntie May gave me some fish, but it was so French and buttery that I -hated it. I tried to eat it, though, for Auntie May's sake, who looked -so pale and ill that I longed to write home to her father about her and -get her fetched home. It was unfortunate that Mr. Fox could not stand -me, or else he would have come to the house and seen Manxie, and after -he had seen her I am sure he wouldn't have approved of Auntie May's -staying where she was so disliked. Why, Manxie even leaned across the -table once, when Auntie May coughed, and said:</p> - -<p>'I am sorry for you, Graham, but I don't like you. I don't like your -eyes!'</p> - -<p>Did anybody ever hear anything like that? The woman was mad, that was -her only excuse. Poor Auntie May was miserable and her eyes were sunk -in and her cheeks hollow, but I don't see that when she was paying -Manxie ten francs a day that she ought to have been abused about her -eyes. Hollow cheeks are better than a hollow leg any day.</p> - -<p>She went out to <i>déjeuner</i> with Mr. Fox next day, telling Manxie about -it, who was very cross with her for not bringing Mr. Fox to the flat.</p> - -<p>'It is just as if you were ashamed of it, Graham,' she said, and Auntie -May didn't contradict her, but shut me up in her room and went. She -came back with some nice asparagus heads for me that she had begged of -the waiter at Durand's. After that she went out no more to luncheon, -and I supposed Mr. Fox had gone back to England.</p> - -<p>Then Auntie May began to get worse and worse, and she coughed so that -she quite lost her voice and could only call me in a whisper. She had -a doctor fetched, to Manxie's great disgust, and he said she had to -put her mouth to the spout of a kettle that had benzoin in it, and she -used to sit for hours with her lips to the spout till Manxie complained -that the steam hurt her ceiling. French rooms are very funny, before -you furnish them yourself; there is a mirror let into the mantelpiece -and a stove in the dining-room. They cook quite differently, too, and -Manxie's cook used to write poetry. She kept the papers in her biggest -stew-pan, and used to read them to Auntie May, who said they were quite -good for a cook and far better than her omelettes.</p> - -<p>Trivia, that was her name, was so grateful that she was always coming -in with cups of <i>tisane</i>.</p> - -<p>'<i>Buvez ça, Madame, je vous assure que cela vous fera du bien!</i>' and -Auntie May said it did do her good, but as a matter of fact she got -worse and worse, and the doctor said he must get a friend of his to -call on her. She was English. He was English. As Auntie May said, 'I -come to Paris to change my ideas, and I have an English land-lady, an -English doctor, and now I am to have an English friend. Funny how we -English herd together!'</p> - -<p>I may say that I mixed with the French more than Auntie May did. I had -a French friend; her name was Mistigris. She belonged to M. Ducrot, -the concierge. To call on her I had to seize my opportunity and sneak -downstairs when the <i>bonne</i> went out to do her shopping and Auntie May -was still in bed. Mistigris was generally lying on the silk eiderdown -that covers Monsieur and Madame Ducrot's bed. Their bed takes up half -their room, and it isn't very big either. It is close to the door. -Madame Ducrot cooks every meal there. They only have the one room and -the coal-cellar under the stairs. Their door gives on to the stairs -and has a glass window in it, so that they can see whoever goes past. -They are a curious race, are concierges, whose business it is to find -out things and take tips. At night, when they are in bed, of course the -door is fastened, but M. Ducrot has a bell that rings by the bed head, -and he has to wake up, if he isn't already awake, and pull a button -to open the door. The person at the door going out also has to say, -'<i>Cordon, s'il vous plait!</i>' All this Mistigris told me. She was very -Anglophobe, meaning she hated the English at first, but I convinced her -that we were really <i>des braves gens</i>—that means a good sort. At first -she used to call out 'Angliche!' and 'Poos! Poos!' at me, very rudely, -and even sometimes, 'Aha, Rosbif!' but she soon improved. Besides, they -don't say 'Puss! Puss!' to their cats here, but Minet or Minette, so -perhaps she was only trying to emulate the English accent. Of course -I don't know French any more than Mistigris knows English, but our -common language, 'Catapuk,' is known all over the world, so there was -no difficulty about our intercourse.</p> - -<p>Madame Ducrot did not like my friendship with Mistigris at first, for -fear I should run away with her, but I am a born bachelor, and people -soon see that there is no fear of my carrying any cat off. Mistigris -was pretty, rather prettier than the white cat at the party, but it -made no difference to me, we were very good friends and that was all.</p> - -<p>Mistigris used to lie in wait for me in the shadow of the bed-curtain -sitting on her warm nest in the eiderdown. Talk of French politeness; -she never once invited me to come up! And if I happened to get down to -see her about meal times when she sat on the table between Monsieur -and Madame Ducrot, as they drank their soup and ate their salad, she -frowned at me through the glass door and pretended not to know me. I -didn't want any cabbage soup, either, their cookery is far too greasy -for me. But when she was not so pleasantly engaged and the door of -the room was open, she used to come to me and thread herself in and -out through the balusters as a sign of friendliness. I never saw her -after seven o'clock. They turn all lights out on the stairs here -after eight, and I used to sit indoors on the cold wood floor in the -evenings and listen for Auntie May to come in. Manxie fed her so badly -that in disgust she used to go out and get her dinner at a restaurant. -She used to come up, bumping herself in the dark, and fumble for the -door-key under the mat, where Manxie, who went to bed at nine to save -lights, had left it. There was a jam-pot on a bracket in the hall full -of oil and a wick floating in it. It was the cheapest possible way of -lighting, so Manxie said. Then Auntie May used to grope for her sealed -bottle of milk on the table, and light one of those beastly French -matches that smell and sputter, and read her letters if there were any, -and then go to bed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus8"> - <img src="images/illus8.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>MISTIGRIS USED TO LIE IN WAIT FOR ME.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>I used to help her to undress, playing with her strings and stay-laces, -and anything in the least taggy, and placing her slippers in different -ends of the room ready for her to find in the morning. Then when she -was in bed, I used to take a header off the high bureau and light on -her. She kissed my head for about five minutes and I purred, and then -having said good-night to her properly so, I lay down on the lower part -of the bed, for I was getting such a big cat that my weight was too -much for her shoulder where I used to like to lie. She put out her hand -and stroked me sometimes in the middle of the night; she liked to feel -I was there. If she was too sleepy to wake up, I generally crept up and -just touched the tip of her nose and so back again without waking her. -I didn't attempt to prise her eyelids open, as Fred did once when he -had the privilege of sleeping with her. He never had it again. Auntie -May values her eyes above anything, and she said it was too dangerous. -I never woke her in the morning, for I thought she wanted all the sleep -she could get. Manxie used to come and look at her sometimes when she -was asleep, and pry into her drawers. I always kept one eye on her, and -she knew it. The funny thing is it frightened her, though, of course, -she knew that I could not tell tales of her.</p> - -<p>At last poor Auntie May stayed in bed altogether, and the doctor -brought his friend Mrs. Jay.</p> - -<p>She was a nice woman and I adored her, although she played a funny -little trick on me. She used to take me up when she came in, and I used -to mew.</p> - -<p>'It is an odd thing,' Auntie May said to her, after Mrs. Jay had been -to see her two or three times and they were great friends, 'that you -love cats so much and yet they mew when you hold them!'</p> - -<p>'Isn't it odd?' said Mrs. Jay, smiling. She had a very pretty voice. 'I -cannot suggest any explanation.'</p> - -<p><i>I</i> could have explained it. Mrs. Jay bit my neck every time, not hard -or cruelly, but just so that I could not help crying out.</p> - -<p>She was not a naturally unkind woman, but she had a mania for -experimenting on people by teasing them as well as being good to them. -She saved Auntie May's life, I think.</p> - -<p>She came one day and said very decidedly:</p> - -<p>'Now, Miss May Graham, I am going to take you away from here, bag and -baggage, cat and cattage. That dreadful Pettigrew—'</p> - -<p>'Poor Pettigrew!' said Auntie May in a thin little voice.</p> - -<p>'Poor Pettigrew indeed! She is simply starving you, that is what she is -doing, and taking ten francs a day for it! I am not going to leave you -here a day longer, if I take you away in an ambulance!'</p> - -<p>There was no need for Auntie May to go in an ambulance. She paid -Manxie, who was in a towering rage, a month's pay in lieu of notice, -Mrs. Jay packed up her belongings, my old basket was brought out again, -and we were settled in the Rue de L'Echelle by the evening. I never saw -Mistigris again.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> - -<h3>'POOSH!'</h3> - - -<p>They had the slipperiest floors in the Rue de L'Echelle, made of pieces -of wood joined together and then polished till the nap was like silk. -Léocadie, the <i>bonne</i>, did it with cloths wrapped about her feet, and -she looked too funny and chaseable skating up and down the floors. -Sometimes Philippe, Mr. Jay's servant, did it, and he plodged, that was -the difference. Léocadie ordered him about like a slave, and he obeyed -her, but he chaffed her. She was rather a little slop in her morning -blouse and her checked apron and her black frizzly hair, and when she -gave him an order he would answer gravely, '<i>Bien, Princesse!</i>' which -sent Mr. Jay into fits of laughter. Léocadie was very kind to me. She -was always holding out some little odd-and-end for me to eat, saying, -'<i>Tiens, Minet?</i>' while I liked lying on Philippe's coat, that he took -off when he worked, better than anything.</p> - -<p>Then in the warm May days that were coming on, I used to lie in the -balcony and look through the iron lace-work and put my paw out, -and shake it about in the air. I could look down, too, and see the -wheelbarrows with bright flowers on them, and the bare-headed women -with lovely hair, and the tinkling cabs, and the drivers with their -grey beaver hats.</p> - -<p>Auntie May got a great deal better, well enough to go into -society—French society. Mrs. Jay sometimes went with her, but not -always, and one night—a night that will long live in my memory—Auntie -May went to Madame Taine's literary party all alone.</p> - -<p>At nine o'clock she came out of her room in her new evening cloak, and -in a lovely pink dress all sequins and beads, and went down the stairs -of the flat. I slipped out too, and went down on the train of her dress -most of the way. She ought to have held it up, of course. She got -into the cab the concierge had fetched, and having said goodbye to me -upstairs, thought no more about me, and I was left sitting alone on the -kerb.</p> - -<p>The gutter was dirty, full of vegetables and things thrown away, -and even when they did tidy up, they only pushed the refuse under a -grating. The dirty towel the men used to stop up the hole in the sewer -with was lying near by—a stupid way of arranging it, I thought. The -noise in the street was terrific. It was the first time I had stood -there alone. The tinkly horse bells got on my nerves—horses all wear -collars in Paris. One wonders they don't spoil their ruffs. Auntie May -won't let any of her cats wear them, though for some reasons it would -be most convenient, for one would always know where the cat was at a -given moment. I longed to get in again, but the great big doors were -shut. So sooner than sit still doing nothing, I moved a little way -farther down the street, and gradually got on to what I imagined from -descriptions must be the Big Boulevard. It was a great danger, but -luckily it was dark. At the crossing there was a policeman with a stick -that he tried to keep cabs back with as they do in London, so mother -has told me, but the horses here just pushed it back rudely with their -noses, and went on and nearly ran over people.</p> - -<p>I got across, and on the other side there were numbers of places -where They eat, and many people sitting outside at little tables -munching peanuts and drinking coffee out of glasses. They dropped -pieces of sugar into them and gave them to their children, who all -seemed to have leave to sit up and be out of doors in the night time. -Rosamond and her sisters go to bed at eight, but then they are English -children. Every moment I thought something was happening, people made -such a noise. Every now and then men ran down the street calling out -in dreadful fear; their harsh screams of terror frightened me, but -I soon discovered, by an old gentleman near me giving one man a sou -and quieting him, that these scraggy poor men were only selling their -papers. In the middle of the road the stream of carriages and cabs -rolled—rolled by till my poor head turned, and I didn't know when I -should ever cross that river of carriages and get home. I knew, having -crossed the street once, that I was bound to cross it again to get -back, but there was not a cat in the whole region from whom I could ask -the way.</p> - -<p>I felt so lonely that I could have mewed aloud, but if I had that would -have called attention to me, and I should have been arrested by one of -the men in blue who held the <i>bâton</i> and minded the crossing. I rubbed -myself against an old gentleman who was taking absinthe at the little -table near which I had placed myself. He looked down and only said, -'<i>Tiens, un chat! Rentre, mon vieux</i>,' which translated means, 'Hold, -a cat! Go home, old man!' which was precisely what I wanted to do, if -only he would have put me safely over the crossing. He probably thought -I belonged to the restaurant near where I was lurking.</p> - -<p>At last the stream of carriages seemed to thin a little, and I took my -courage between my teeth and made a wild dash to get across.</p> - -<p>I did it. The garçon called out, '<i>Holà! Hé!</i>' and some other strange -expressions of surprise, but I never minded. Keeping a stiff whisker, -although I was mortally afraid, I walked down the long street that led -southwards to my home in Rue de L'Echelle.</p> - -<p>I knew the house by a piece of orange-peel lying in a particular place -near the door that I had noticed when Auntie May had started three -hours ago, and also by its own peculiar smell.</p> - -<p>Every house has its special smell, over and above all the town smell, -you know. The smell of Paris is quite different from the smell of -London. It is a kind of fried-potatoes-and-garlic smell mixed together -on a hot stove-dried air—nothing solid about it, somehow. Auntie May -says it is like sweet champagne, and just as heady.</p> - -<p>I had plenty of time to think what the air of Paris was like, for the -door stayed shut, and I stayed in the street with every prospect of -doing it till morning. I could not ring the bell and say, '<i>Cordon, -s'il vous plait</i>.' Then a thought struck me. Had Auntie May come -in yet? How could I tell? I looked about to see if she had dropped -anything—a pin, a flower, a hair-pin?</p> - -<p>Nothing! Now, Auntie May was just the kind of person to drop something, -and I began to hope that she had not come in yet. I waited. I could -sneak in with her if I was mean, or make a clean breast of it and show -myself. I didn't know which I would do. It depended on the sort of -temper she was in. I can generally smell that.</p> - -<p>After about an hour I heard a cab come down the street, going very -quickly. Auntie May got out and paid the man and sent him away. Then -she rang, very loudly and impatiently. I was sitting quietly beside -her, meaning her to see me. I had decided to do it that way, but I said -nothing. She noticed me at once, and spoke to me seriously:</p> - -<p>'Oh, Loki, you villain, you darling, you naughty little cat! How -come you to be out? Mercy, when I think of what might have happened! -A valuable cat, alone in Paris at midnight! I hope at least you have -not been very far away from this door. This is a quiet sort of street, -thank goodness. Quick! Say! Set my mind at rest!'</p> - -<p>She shook me gently and I said, 'No,' but of course she only thought I -mewed.</p> - -<p>'Your sweet little mew quite disarms me. Oh, but you <i>have</i> given me a -fright—an awful fright!'</p> - -<p>I asked her if she had enjoyed herself?</p> - -<p>'Why a fright, do you say? Anybody might have run off with you and -made a boa of you. They wouldn't have made mincemeat, however, for you -are a valuable cat, and they could see that at a glance, though you -are English. They would have sold you into slavery. Well, people are -honester than I thought! But perhaps nobody has passed this way? <i>Dis, -mon chou!</i>' She had got so French that she called me a cabbage.</p> - -<p>She squeezed me again, and I tried to remind her that nobody had -answered that bell, and that her cloak was open, and it wasn't even a -piece of whole fur, for it missed her neck out.</p> - -<p>'Yes, you may well mew, for you are a really naughty little cat, and -have wrung your poor mistress's heart. Why don't they open that door? -How long have we been standing here? Come under my cloak.'</p> - -<p>'I wish you would fasten it,' I said.</p> - -<p>'You are very conversational, Loki, to-night. I begin to think you have -had adventures. I'll ring again. Conf—bother that concierge! Lazy -creature! I'll ring the house down if he doesn't come soon. Well, well, -we must possess our little souls in patience, Loki, you and I. Isn't it -funny, standing out here in a strange town all alone at twelve o'clock -at night, Loki? Awfully queer, and such a queer party I have been to. -We drank punch in long glasses, and ate plum-cake and spoiled our -gloves. When <i>will</i> this man answer the bell and open the door?'</p> - -<p>She rang again. We both listened.</p> - -<p>'I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,' she said. 'I -am beginning to get cross. Perhaps we can get the concierge dismissed -to-morrow. Yes, we'll do that, anyhow.'</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus9"> - <img src="images/illus9.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>'I BELIEVE WE SHALL HAVE TO MAKE UP A BED ON THE STONES,' SHE SAID.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>There was a man coming down the street in a rough black frieze cape -and a black tie, whose ends floated out in the breeze. If ever I saw -a Frenchman he was one, young too. Yet as he went by he said, very -clearly and distinctly in English:</p> - -<p>'Poosh!'</p> - -<p>And Auntie May did push, hard. That was it. The door was open all the -time!</p> - -<p>I believe the concierge had opened it when we first rang and gone to -sleep again. But all I can say is we heard no click, and that is what -Auntie May said to Mrs. Jay next morning.</p> - -<p>'I didn't think that literary parties could be so exciting!' said Mrs. -Jay.</p> - -<p>Next morning a whole heap of letters came by the post. Auntie May -read bits of them aloud to Mrs. Jay, and I heard them between my -mouthfuls of bread and milk. There was one from Beatrice saying that -she supposed Auntie May wasn't going to stay in Paris much longer, it -must be getting so hot; she supposed she wouldn't mind a few little -commissions, and out came a list as long as Auntie May's arm.</p> - -<p>There was one from Mr. Fox, which I managed to get hold of and trailed -all over the room, pretending it was a mouse, and paying it back for -Mr. Fox's treatment of me. I like to be loved.</p> - -<p>There was a long letter from Mrs. Dillon in South Africa about Admiral -Togo.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>'I sometimes think he is turning into a baby,' she wrote. 'He really -is almost human, and expresses his every wish so unmistakably that -I am convinced he will actually talk some day. He is very well. His -fur comes off, but the "vet" says that is inevitable here, and that -it will come on again. He is a shocking bad sailor and hated the sea. -Nothing would induce him to look at it through a porthole unless I -held him in my arm and talked all the time to him. Then he got a -little, nervously, interested. My maid bought a wicker basket-chair -for him at Madeira, and he sat on it on deck, never making the -slightest attempt to leave it. Below he had only one pleasure, a -canary. Up to the very last he hoped that it would come into his -mouth. He felt the heat of the tropics very much, and complained in -a feeble way of being forced to travel in his chinchilla coat and -cuffs. I showed him how to lie on the floor with his head on a book -for coolness, so all the hot time he insisted on my making this -arrangement for him; he could not somehow or other get it right for -himself.</p> - -<p>'Here at Rondebosch he is getting a little old-fashioned, having no -other cats to play with except me and my maid. He goes walks with me, -padding along on his short fat legs, with his tongue hanging out of -his mouth till he is tired, when he lies down on his back and cries -till I go and pick him up, and then have to carry him the rest of the -way. I want my maid to buy him a "pram."'</p></div> - -<p>I can't remember any more. Auntie May nearly cried with pleasure at -getting this long letter from Mrs. Dillon. I wished Auntie May would -take <i>me</i> walks. She never seemed to think of it, and I got into the -habit of taking them for myself—on the roof.</p> - -<p>This was stopped.</p> - -<p>'May,' said Mrs. Jay, 'when I came in to-day I heard a mew, and your -cat welcomed me into my own house from the roof, craning his silly -little neck over the gutter, like the devils of Notre Dame. Do you -think it safe? He isn't attached behind, like the gargoyles, you know.'</p> - -<p>'Not at all safe,' said Auntie May, and, together with the hotness, -this was one of the reasons for her deciding to go home.</p> - -<p>About a fortnight after this my basket was brought out and filled with -little bits of paper. I knew what this meant. I was not, however, put -into it till the very last minute, two days later.</p> - -<p>'Now, you travelled little cat,' said Auntie May, 'go into your -"<i>sleeping</i>" and don't wail and distress me. It will soon be over, and -you will see your mother again.'</p> - -<p>I knew exactly how soon it would be over; it would last just as long as -it had lasted to come here, and that was a whole day. I said nothing, -and then began the goodbyes, which were just as distressing as my -mewing would have been.</p> - -<p>It is curious, but They do seem to have a way of caring for each other -far more than we do. Mrs. Jay and Auntie May knew each other no better -than I and Mistigris, and I never even troubled to say goodbye to her, -yet she was a nice little cat.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> - -<h3>THE BLACK COMMON CAT</h3> - - -<p>We trained along, and it was very hot, and then we got into that weary -old boat again, as I could tell by the fishy smell. I was put down by -Auntie May's side in the cabin, and as soon as she had settled down a -man came up to her and told her that she had a dog with her, and then -when she denied it he said quite sharply:</p> - -<p>'<i>Ouvrez!</i>' which means 'Open' without 'please.'</p> - -<p>I drew myself up to my full height, and when the lid of the basket was -lifted up was discovered in a sitting posture. I gave the insolent -fellow A Look and lay down again to express my thorough contempt of him.</p> - -<p>Bless me, there was a parrot in a cage, done up in an old red flannel -petticoat in the most degrading way, that I heard them paying -eighteen-pence for!</p> - -<p>It was about five o'clock when we arrived, and took a cab to go home. -I was undone in the hall of No. 100 Egerton Gardens. I then jumped out -gracefully and quietly, and stood, a little dazed, to tell the truth. -Auntie May, having paid the cab, left the servants to get out the -luggage, and taking me in her arms went straight to the studio. I knew -she wanted badly to go and see mother and Fred, but restrained herself.</p> - -<p>'Fathers before cats!' she said. 'What would Dad think if I did not go -and dig him out first?'</p> - -<p>On opening the studio door she gave a terrible jump, and dropped me. -Mr. Graham was there all right, painting away with his back to her -and his palette on his thumb; but what made her jump was the sight of -mother sitting on the funny little bit of a chair which was all he -would allow himself to sit on when he was tired, and Fred and Zobeide -wallowing composedly in the wastepaper basket—Fred larger and more -impudent than ever.</p> - -<p>Worse than this, there was a large black cat with a white star on its -breast, mumbling a fish's head in the middle of the floor, that didn't -even have the grace to leave off when we came in.</p> - -<p>'Oh, my dear, darling Dad!' cried Auntie May, rushing to him. 'How glad -I am to see you; and how are you, and why do I find you all—<i>silted</i> -up with cats like this?'</p> - -<p>Mr. Graham put down his palette and his mahl-stick, and Zobeide ran off -with the latter, and Fred jumped on to the former, and he kissed Auntie -May again and again, and answered her question rather slowly.</p> - -<p>'Well, you see, my dear, you were a long time away, and Pet and Zobeide -and Freddy—you were always so fond of them—I thought I could look -after them all better if I kept them constantly under my eye. They are -not the rose, but they were near it—and I was a bit lonely.'</p> - -<p>'And so you had my menagerie in to remind you of me! Dear darling Dad, -you couldn't have paid me a better compliment. But then, father, who is -the black gentleman?'</p> - -<p>'He is <i>my</i> cat!' said the old gentleman gravely, 'and you will please -to love him for my sake. He is another story. One dark night I took him -in—or rather he took <i>me</i> in, for he stayed here a week without my -knowing it. He drank Pet's milk and ate my more easily digested paints, -and never had the decency to get Pet to present him to me, though he -was enjoying my hospitality. He is not well-favoured, as you see, but -an interesting beast—an adventurer, I fear. The other cats barely -tolerate him!'</p> - -<p>I should think not indeed! I had my tail twice as thick as usual -already, and the black cat was staring hard at me, wishing he dared -stiffen his too, but hardly sure enough of his position yet, in spite -of Mr. Graham's friendly speech, to do so. The black cat then spoke to -me personally:</p> - -<p>'Now don't you be unkind, you new cat!' (My tail got stiffer, and -I vowed I would never go from home again and leave a place for -interlopers!) 'Your gracious lady mother and worthy brother have -accepted me, and so why should not you? I only get cat's meat; the cook -says it is good enough for me as I am not a thoroughbred, so I don't -see why you should object to my presence here. I have shown the others -that I am not prepared to be an annoyance. I never play with their -rattley ball, or put my nose into their saucers of milk or what not, or -sit in their places, as soon as I find out which they are.'</p> - -<p>'That is quite true, Loki,' said mother. 'He is not at all pushing, and -he is fairly good company. Fancy! He knows what it is to starve. It is -as good as a story to listen to him. Such weird tales! I can hardly -bring myself to believe them, but then mine has been such a sheltered -life!'</p> - -<p>'What can any one as pretty as you, ma'am,' said the black cat (and -then I saw how he had got round mother), 'know of the wickedness of the -world and the cruelty of men? I am an example of that cruelty. I will -tell you how—'</p> - -<p>Fred interrupted him.</p> - -<p>'He really isn't bad fun, Loki. He does to chase, and when he is caught -hasn't the least objection to our biting his tail. It is rather nice to -have a plain tail you needn't take care of, isn't it?'</p> - -<p>'Oh, if you find him useful,' I said, 'I have nothing more to say.'</p> - -<p>All this time May and her father were licking each other. He was -pleased to see <i>her</i> back. <i>My</i> mother seemed to have forgotten <i>me</i>! -She met me merely with politeness, as she might a stranger. It had -all fallen out exactly as she had predicted. I was nothing to her -now—nothing special, I mean. Later on in the day she gave me a bat -with her paw, the first of many. I soon got used to it, and hit back.</p> - -<p>Mr. Graham told Auntie May that Mr. Fox had been three times to ask -after her. I don't think from the way he spoke that Mr. Fox had told -him about his visit to Paris, for he seemed to be under the impression -that I had been sent on to her from the cattery at Kew by parcels -delivery, and, as far as I know, May did not undeceive him. Mr. Fox -had gone up to Shortleas, his shooting near Beatrice's house, and Mr. -Graham said he was quite rich.</p> - -<p>Auntie May said, 'How do you know that, Daddy?'</p> - -<p>'Because he told me so, my dear.'</p> - -<p>All Auntie May said was, 'Oh!' but as she went out of the room she -added, 'It is a pity he hates cats so, isn't it?'</p> - -<p>The black cat's name was Charlie, but Auntie May never knew that, and -she christened him Blackavice, because he had a black face. He was a -really comfortable old thing, and the night after I came back we all -listened to him, sitting on different high things in the room. We cats -never like to be crowded up together unless we are sleeping, and then -we prefer it because of the warmth.</p> - -<p>He was only nine, and he had had a strange and varied life. He told us -all in snippets, some things one evening and some another, and some -things twice over. We never minded that, but listened to his yarns with -the greatest attention. We liked him fairly well, but not well enough -to lick him. One never knew where he had been, and there is a dustbin -full of potato peelings and other things to every house in the square.</p> - -<p>He had lived once, he said, in a family in London where the master kept -him to catch mice, and the cook to put thefts on. He never knew what he -hadn't done. When he saw a joint or a fish come in, handed over at the -backdoor by the fishmonger or the butcher's boy, he used to say sadly -to himself, 'Now, shall I be supposed to steal that?' And generally -the cook's mother came in the afternoon of that day, and, sure enough, -she got one of those soles or the end of that joint, and the mistress -was told next morning, 'Ma'am, that awful Charlie again!' He tried to -manage to be out of the way while the mistress was ordering dinner, -because after saying this sort of thing the cook used to look round for -him and broom him out to show how cross she was with him, and how she -abhorred his crime. It was a most insecure life. Then once or twice he -said he thought that he might as well have the good of the fish or meat -he was accused of stealing, and he really did take it; but the cook was -too sharp for him, and gave him a whipping for stealing the portion of -her poor old mother. That didn't pay, and only was the means of his -getting two whippings instead of one.</p> - -<p>The cook hardly fed him at all, but expected him to cater for himself -out of the mice that were living behind the boards, and who came out -at night and played about. The supply of mice varied very much, and he -said that, when mice were plentiful, he used to let them go so as to -save them for another dinner later on; then if mice were scarce he got -so weak he couldn't catch them. He often thought it wasn't good enough, -and that he would like to make a change. He visited every house in the -square in which he lived, in turn, hoping that they would see fit to -keep him, as he was a black cat, and a black cat taking up its abode -with you is accounted lucky. But no, they all broomed him out, and one -tall cook hot-watered him out, and that hurt. So he stayed on with -Mrs. Murch and was bullied all the time, and had no pleasure in life, -except on warm sunny days sitting in the square garden pretending that -there was no necessity to fag after birds. He used to envy the cats who -didn't have need to pretend, but were so well fed that all they need do -was to look lazily after the birds flying past, and gibber at them, or -cats like us who are positively forbidden to go after birds because it -is cruel. The first time the family went away for the summer and left -him, he couldn't make head or tail of it, he said. But other cats told -him he might think himself lucky They had not locked him in, the way -They do sometimes, and then the policeman has to get them out if he -is kind and has a mind to. Charlie had the run of the garden and the -birds, but he missed the 'drain' of milk the cook gave him when she was -in a good humour, and he soon got so weak and flabby that he could not -catch a bird, and they used to sit in the branches and mock at him—the -sparrows, that is.</p> - -<p>He made up his mind that he would not go through with it another year, -and about July he began to make love to the cook's mother, taking her -a mackerel or so that he had stolen on purpose for her and laying it -at her feet. The cook's mother was pleased with him, and, as he had -calculated, offered to borrow him for a month and see what he could do -with the rats down at her place, down at Limehouse Pier, or something -like that, and he said we would hardly believe it, but he got far more -to eat while he was there than at home. The poor are much more lavish -than the rich, and live so much better. And he saw life! 'My word!' -he would say, licking his whiskers, which were fine and large, and -his only beauty. He said they were of immense use to him in showing -what sized gaps he could get through, for if his whiskers were at all -incommoded, he at once knew that the hole or gap was too small for the -thickest part of him. Such tight places he had been in. He would lift -up his head and yawn and say:</p> - -<p>'The things I have seen, ma'am, you would not believe!'</p> - -<p>Then mother would kindly ask him to spare our youth, and not tell us -all the dreadful things that he had seen and heard in the slums, for it -would not have been nice. He might tell her when they were alone, but -as they seldom were alone I don't think he ever got the chance, though -he was dying to shock her, because she was so shockable.</p> - -<p>And then the old woman died, and a rent-collecting lady, who had been -kind to her when she couldn't pay her rent and paid it for her herself, -took Charlie away with her when all the sticks were sold—there was -only a table and a chair, as far as I can remember, when she had -pawned everything—and gave him to a little boy who was her nephew. It -happened to be a little boy in Egerton Gardens where we lived. Funny, -how small the world is! That boy was rough and played experiments with -him, and catapulted him, and tied things to him, and harnessed him, and -put him to bed in his sister's doll's nightgowns in the day-time. That -was disagreeable, Charlie said, but he never bit him, and he was glad -afterwards, for the little boy got ill.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus10"> - <img src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>THAT BOY WAS ROUGH AND PLAYED EXPERIMENTS WITH HIM.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>He was put to bed, and he came out all in red spots, and he simply -yelled for his black cat. The nurse took Charlie up and put him on the -bed, and the little boy grabbed him and held him very uncomfortably for -a long time till he got tired. He was a very clever little boy, and -when his mother said to him, 'But, Teddy, you will give the poor cat -your measles,' he answered, 'He can be <i>defected</i> same as me, can't he?'</p> - -<p>'They don't disinfect <i>you</i>, my boy, only your clothes,' the mother -said. 'And that is so that your clothes may not give it to any one -else.'</p> - -<p>'Then can Charlie carry a measle away on his fur?' the little boy -asked, very much frightened, and began to cry because he supposed that -Charlie ought to be taken away from him. They were much upset at the -idea, and the nurse said in a low voice:</p> - -<p>'We can arrange all that, ma'am; don't thwart him, whatever you do!' -And so Charlie was left, but from that moment he had an uncomfortable -feeling that the nurse meant to kill him when he had done his work of -amusing Teddy. So when Teddy was going to get better he watched to see -the sick-room door open, and ran away and came in here.</p> - -<p>That was the first time mother had heard of the reasons that had -induced him to leave his home, and she was very serious.</p> - -<p>'I don't believe that <i>we</i> are liable to measles,' she said -thoughtfully. 'But you may give it to Auntie May.'</p> - -<p>'She never takes me on her lap,' said the black cat sadly. 'I ought not -to repine, for it is safer for her, and she is a nice lady. I hunger -for a word of affection sometimes, though.'</p> - -<p>'The question is, not your need of affection,' said mother severely, -'but the danger of Auntie May's getting measles. As your fur—excuse -me—is not very long, perhaps you cannot carry infection like, for -instance, Freddy here. We won't worry.'</p> - -<p>I looked every day after that to see if Auntie May was coming out in -red spots like little Teddy, but there was not a single measle that I -could see. It was, however, a nasty scare, and mother said Charlie -was little better than an adventurer, and ought not to have come in -like that without any references at all.</p> - -<p>He was a battered old thing, too; very shabby and ailing, and seemed -to have been very much knocked about in general. The skin of both his -ears showed bare and furless where another cat had taken hold of him. -His long mean tail was broken off sharp at the end, where it had been -caught in a trap, out hunting for rabbits on the sly. And he had had an -awful adventure once in France, where he had been taken by some English -people and left on the farm which they hired for the summer. There some -French child had had the bright idea of putting him on a smart collar -of twisted rushes plaited up into a string. The child made it a little -too big, not big enough for him to be able to get it off, but big -enough for him to get his paw through and nearly his whole front-leg. -He said he thought himself very clever to do this, but he bitterly -regretted it, for he could not get the leg back and had to walk on -three. Nobody on the French farm noticed it, and as it was they never -fed him. French people never do feed dogs hardly, and cats never. They -are not nice to animals. He says he never saw a dog or cat properly -covered with flesh the whole time he was there; they were all wretched -scrags. Well, the trouble with poor Charlie was that he couldn't catch -any mice or birds to speak of, and he was nearly starving. He thought -that he grew rather light-headed, for one day, in his extreme misery, -he ran away into the woods and made up his mind to die. The place where -his leg was pressing on his neck got sore—the collar rubbed it, I -suppose—and he couldn't reach up to lick it, and so the paw got stuck -to his body and began to fester, and caused him great pain.</p> - -<p>After about a week of starvation he happened to see a lady bathing -in the river, who, when she had come out and dried herself, pulled a -little bread and meat out of a napkin, and ate something and drank -something on the edge of the stream. He went up to her, and she noticed -him and called him, but he was too wild and shy to dare to go near her. -He was ashamed of himself and the figure he cut.</p> - -<p>However, she left half her luncheon and rolled it out on the grass for -him, and he came down from a sort of perch he had in a tree and ate it.</p> - -<p>Next day the lady came and bathed again, and again he did not dare to -go near her, although she again left the remains of her luncheon for -him. This went on for about a week. She at last brought another lady -with her, and the other lady said she was sure that there was something -wrong with that black cat, if only he would come near enough for them -to see. She hinted that perhaps if she could find out the damage she -might be able to do something for him. He heard, still he dared not go -near them, for he had a stupid notion that if they once got hold of him -they might tie up his other leg. You see, since a mere child had done -such a cruel thing to him he distrusted everybody. The other lady said -nothing, but one day when he had ventured a little nearer to her than -usual, she was very quick and threw a large napkin all over him. He got -all mixed up in it, not being as nimble as he would have liked to be, -with his arm tied up, and thus he found himself a prisoner.</p> - -<p>And glad he was that he had fallen into her hands, although, indeed, -at first, he gave himself up for lost. The lady had a pair of scissors -hanging to her girdle, and she held him firmly by the scruff of the -neck while her companion gripped him by the hind legs to prevent his -scratching her, which in his excitement and nervousness he would have -been sure to do, and the band of rushes was cut and thrown aside. Then -he said their exclamations completely reassured him and he ceased to -struggle.</p> - -<p>'Oh, poor creature! His paw has grown right on to his neck! What an -awful sore! I can hardly bear to look at it!'</p> - -<p>They <i>did</i> look at it, however, and washed it with fresh water from the -stream, and cut all the matted bobbedy hair away from the part; still -he could not put his paw to the ground. He was quite good and patient, -and he tried to show gratitude in his eyes.</p> - -<p>'He is a rare ugly beast!' one of them said. 'I feel like St. Vincent -de Paul! Do you think he would go in the luncheon basket, and could we -make him a bed of rushes and grass in it and take him home?'</p> - -<p>The other one objected, but only faintly, and the long and the short -of it was they carried him home to the house which they rented on a -farm, and looked after him most kindly, washing his sore with warm -water every day, and smearing it with nice clean ointment. That was -not all. They took him to England and put him in a cat's home, paying -eighteen-pence a week for him. From there some one bought him—the -mistress of Mrs. Murch. That brings him down to the time when we first -knew him; and indeed, when I think of the good stories he had to tell, -I am sorry he ever left us.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> - -<h3>THE BLACK CAT BRINGS MEASLES</h3> - - -<p>A week after that Auntie May did not come down to breakfast, and Mary -looked fussy and important as if something had happened, and a certain -great carriage came and stood at our door, which mother said was a -doctor's carriage. We heard Mary and the cook talking about it.</p> - -<p>'It's measles, sure enough,' said Mary. 'Mrs. Curtis's little boy, -t'other side of the square, died of it last week. It is all over. You -and me'll go next, cook, sure as eggs is eggs.'</p> - -<p>'Eggs is often egg powder,' said the cook severely. 'You just sit still -and don't go to meet misfortune half-way. More work and less talk, I -say.'</p> - -<p>We told the black cat that he was little better than a murderer, -bringing measles in and giving them to our dear Auntie May, and we made -him so uncomfortable that he left. I don't suppose he would starve -or anything, for he had collected enough strength with us to last him -through the winter, and make him fit to catch as many birds as he could -eat. Besides, I don't think he was going to live long anyhow. To my -certain knowledge he had licked up a whole tube of madder-lake, and -swallowed the cork of a bottle of quick-drying copal.</p> - -<p>Mary was not a good cat-maid, though she had acquired what Auntie May -called the cat-tread. She had learned to walk carefully, shovelling her -feet along the floor so as to avoid treading on kittens. Of course, now -that we were older, we oozed away ourselves, and were too proud to call -out if a paw got caught, or so on.</p> - -<p>Then an awful thing happened, and while Auntie May was ill too. Perhaps -if Auntie May hadn't been ill it would never have happened. Zobeide -went and lost herself.</p> - -<p>We all went out now and then, though it wasn't approved of unless -Auntie May took us herself, and that was all right; it was going alone -that was wrong. Whenever we were missed there was a fine hue and cry, -and Auntie May used to run out without her boots, or her hat, or her -jacket, and hunt the garden. When she had done this in vain, she used -to go out in the street and walk all round the fronts of the houses to -see if she could see a bit of grey cat sticking out anywhere. She got -<i>me</i> that way once. I was sitting on the outside wall looking inwards -and my tail hung down into the street. She came along and took hold, -and wow! but I had to come down backwards along with it! I felt as if -it were being pulled out by the roots, and that all resistance was vain -and painful as well. So I was amenable to persuasion, if you can call -anything so rough as that persuasion.</p> - -<p>There was no Auntie May to fetch Zobeide in. She wasn't even told lest -it sent up her temperature. Besides, I fancied some one had stolen -Zobeide, and I remembered that Auntie May once said that one merit of -having valuable cats was that if they got lost or were stolen it wasn't -to do them harm; that the thief would cherish every hair of the coat of -a Blue Persian, and that it was only a question of change of residence -and missing the departed, without the agony of imagining all sorts of -horrid fates that might have befallen them. She said she could never -sleep at night if she had to think of the possibility of our coming -upon the streets and being carried off to be vivisected. Perhaps poor -Charlie got vivisected! Oh dear!</p> - -<p>Mother and I and Fred did not break our hearts or care half so much -about Zobeide as poor Mr. Graham did. He took an immense lot of -trouble, and went to the police station about her, and when he came -home he wrote on a great piece of paper, in copy-book hand:</p> - -<p class="ph1">LOST<br /> -Valuable Persian Cat<br /> -On the Thirty-first instant from<br /> -No. 100 Egerton Gardens.<br /> -Whoever will bring the same back to owner will receive<br /> -the sum of Five Pounds.</p> - -<p>This he had printed, and mother says she heard that a copy was stuck in -the window of every shop in the district. Of course that curious Mary -had to go out and spy them all out and come home and tell cook.</p> - -<p>We were a great deal in the kitchen at this period, and liked it in -a way. It was warmer than anywhere else in the house, and there were -plenty of odd things good to eat, though Auntie May strictly forbade -Mary or cook to feed us between meals. Our meals were always arranged -beforehand. For instance, Fred could not eat fish—it always made him -sick. He also liked a thing better if he had stolen it. When he was -ill and wouldn't eat his bread and milk they put it on the china-table -to tempt him, and it did. He would eat all quickly, thinking he would -get shooed off every other minute. Mother could not bear lentils; she -had never been brought up to them, she said. Now I loved them, also -cod-liver-oil biscuits. None of us could stand salt meat or veal, but -game, of course, was heaven. We had different ways with the bones. I -like to split mine up and get the juice that is inside the bone out -and suck it. Mother thought it would hurt our teeth, and she only -picked hers. As she was getting a little old, she had raw meat twice a -week to strengthen her, and in the winter Auntie May always gave her -cod-liver-oil. What she really liked best was burnt currants out of a -cake. She used to sit at Auntie May's elbow and pick them out of her -mouth. I have a weakness for anchovy sandwiches, and Auntie May always -gratifies it.</p> - -<p>So you see we are rather a nuisance with our various likes and -dislikes; but I am bound to say cook and Mary were very good while -Auntie May's illness lasted, and did not alter the menu in the least. -The measles lasted an age. I cannot count time, so I don't know, but I -remember very clearly the first day when Auntie May was 'safe'—able to -see us, I mean. She had been away to the seaside before that time, and -I heard Mary say that when she came back she might go anywhere and see -who she liked.</p> - -<p>Mary tied bows of ribbon on all our necks against her home-coming; she -thought Auntie May wouldn't mind for once, and cook and she thought -that she didn't really ever keep us smart enough.</p> - -<p>I tried not to get mine worked round to my chin so as to oblige Mary; -but Fred got his mixed up with sardine-oil about an hour before she -came, and had to have it taken off.</p> - -<p>We were all in her study when she came in, and I was determined she -should not complain of the coldness of our welcome this time, so we all -rushed at her.</p> - -<p>'Mercy! What a lot of little catapults!' said she. The day was cold, -for it was nearly autumn, and she threw off her coat, not caring how -dreadfully distracting it was to Freddy. He bore it well, though, -and left the most fascinating bobble untouched lest she should feel -neglected.</p> - -<p>'Where is Zobeide?' she said suddenly. 'Mary! Mary!' for Mary had -bolted.</p> - -<p>'I simply cannot rest till I find Zobeide,' she muttered, going to -cupboard doors and opening them. 'The darling! Where is she, Mary? -Mary!'</p> - -<p>It is always the way. She had got <i>us</i>, but people always want the one -they haven't got, and then take not the slightest interest in the ones -that have been good and stayed at home; for, of course, as every one -knew, Zobeide was up to no good when she got herself stolen. Auntie May -got quite mad with anxiety, and opened the door of her room and met -Mary on the threshold.</p> - -<p>'Mary, please, where is Zobeide?'</p> - -<p>'Lost, Miss. Mr. Fox have called.'</p> - -<p>Auntie May banged the door and went down to see Mr. Fox. I suppose Mary -told her about Zobeide on the way downstairs, that is if she cared any -more to listen. People are so funny!</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> - -<h3>A WEDDING IN THE HOUSE</h3> - - -<p>It was the beginning of the end.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fox's sister sent word she wanted to buy a cat, either me or Fred. -Auntie May told us when she came upstairs that evening after Mr. Fox -had gone. (He had stayed two whole hours.) She said:</p> - -<p>'I think I shall sell Fred, because only last night he emptied my -wastepaper basket, mixed my unanswered letters with the thrown-away -ones, and added a paper of tin tacks and a box of boracic-acid powder -to the mess. Fred is too good to live. I hear Mr. Fox's sister is -very severe with the animals about her place, so, Freddy, you will be -heavily corrected for your misdemeanours. Yes, you are cut out for a -country cat! Your little manners are shocking. Freddy Orson! You ought -to be called Orson.'</p> - -<p>Freddy didn't quite understand that he was being disapproved of, but -he got on her knee in a friendly way and curled round and rubbed his -long tooth against the left wing of her nose, causing her thereby great -discomfort. He meant well, but it all went to prove what she said, that -his manners were not refined. Mother and I thought he had better go, -but indeed we were not consulted. He went in a basket. Mother didn't -say goodbye to him formally. I don't think she noticed.</p> - -<p>Then Rosamond came down to stay in Egerton Gardens, and I got at the -truth of the situation from her. She was now sixteen, and had grown -quite ugly. Children, they say, grow in and out. Well, she was 'out' -now. She was a very sensible girl, though.</p> - -<p>'I believe Mr. Fox is very fond of you, Auntie May,' she said one day, -'and would like to marry you, but he simply can't get at you for your -cats.'</p> - -<p>'Oh, that is what you think, do you?' said Auntie May, not taking much -notice of her, but going on with what she was doing very hard.</p> - -<p>'Yes, and he is trying to exterminate them one by one,' said Rosamond. -'You see he has got rid of Freddy, and very soon he will be making you -an offer for Loki. As for dear old Petronilla, anybody can see that he -won't have to wait long for her, she is on her last legs. Oh, Auntie -dear, say you will marry him when Petronilla dies, and then <i>see</i> if he -doesn't manage to give her poison.'</p> - -<p>'Rosamond, what an odious suggestion! Mr. Fox is very nice—much too -nice to do that—and besides, as I said to him, "Love me, love my -cats."'</p> - -<p>'Ah, so you have spoken to him about it?' gibed the horrid little girl. -'Now you <i>have</i> given yourself away. Well, what does Mr. Fox say? Does -he love you enough to wait for Petronilla's death?'</p> - -<p>'Don't talk nonsense, child. I am not going to marry Mr. Fox at all, -whether Pet were to die to-morrow or live to be a hundred, as I am -sure I hope she will, poor lamb! As for Mr. Fox, our tastes are too -absolutely dissimilar for anything of that kind to be possible.'</p> - -<p>'Quite possible, <i>I</i> think, if only the cat difficulty could be got -over,' said that naughty Rosamond. 'I believe you two adore each other! -And aren't you grateful to him for bringing your horrid cat—horrid -from his point of view I mean—across to Paris for you? I think it was -angelic, like a knight of old, performing terribly difficult tasks to -please his lady.'</p> - -<p>'Will you hold your silly little tongue? Go and do your health -exercises!'</p> - -<p>That was the way she always got rid of Rosamond, by some order or -another. You see Rosamond, though she was sixteen, still had to obey. -Yet though Auntie May was older than Rosamond, that child could turn -her round her little finger.</p> - -<p>Luckily mother was not in the room when Rosamond said those nasty -things about her age. But I thought over them deeply. It was true -mother had grown very thin and weak lately; several times I have heard -Mary say when lifting her up:</p> - -<p>'Why, she don't weigh no more than a feather!'</p> - -<p>Her eyes were so big and bright they seemed to swallow up her whole -face. I wondered how long Mr. Fox thought he would have to wait? I -wondered how long we cats usually live, but, of course, I did not like -to ask mother for fear of making her think about death. I remember -her once telling me that when her time came to die she would not -like anybody to be there. She would try to get away into a corner -somewhere, and not be found till all was over.</p> - -<p>That is cat's way all over the world, and I believe the way of dogs too.</p> - -<p>I wonder if that was the way that Admiral Togo died?</p> - -<p>One morning Auntie May got a letter from Mrs. Dillon. She read it aloud -to Rosamond as long as she could without crying, and then Rosamond took -it by her permission and read it too aloud till <i>she</i> cried. But this -way I got it all.</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">Rondebosch</span>, <i>February 12, 18—</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear May</span>—I have had a great sorrow. Togo is dead. My maid -and I fought for his life so hard that I thought he <i>must</i> live. I -could have borne it better if I could have felt that it was <i>really</i> -inevitable—but the shocking ignorance we have had to contend with has -been incredible. From the first moment of our seeing anything wrong -we sought in every possible direction for help. They always said it -was malaria, and that I was to nurse him up and feed him as his only -chance. When at last I got hold of a vet who <i>did</i> know his business, -he said the poor little thing was dying of pleurisy—temperature a -hundred and five! He said it was too late for tapping, and he gave -him a little whiff of chloroform which sent him quietly to his last -sleep. I could not bear that he should go through any more doubtful -cruel remedies. If my maid had lost an only child she could not have -felt it more, after having nursed that cat night and day for so long. -It has made me quite ill. I do always love things so passionately, -and this was more than a pet. He was with me constantly, and I knew -he was turning into a baby! Over and over again I have said, 'He -is <i>too</i> good, he will never live to grow up!' He was like Hans -Andersen's Mermaid, he was getting a soul, and indeed he won it at -last, in the only way possible, through love and well-borne pain. The -last fortnight he was almost human, his eyes had lost the mere animal -stare, and looked up constantly into ours for love and help, which -we could not give, alas! He lay most of the time in my arms or in my -maid's, and had grown so thin we had to carry him about in a shawl. He -lost two and a half pounds in three weeks—</p></div> - -<p>It was here that Rosamond broke down and the letter was put away. -Auntie May settled to give Mrs. Dillon another kitten, a brother of -Togo's, so perhaps he might be as nice.</p> - -<p>But the new family of kittens were rather wretched-looking little -things, and I sniffed over them a great deal, till mother told me that -I myself had looked neither better nor worse than they did. I enjoyed -helping to mind them, and often I was trusted to get into the basket -and keep them warm while mother stretched her legs. A day or two after -they were born mother said:</p> - -<p>'I shall never have any more, so I mean to do my duty by these!' I -think that meant she fancied she was going to die soon, and I have no -doubt Auntie May knew it too, and told Mr. Fox so.</p> - -<p>Then Beatrice came to stay in London with us for a week, and she spoke -to Auntie May very severely about Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>'May, you are a fool,' she said. 'I am fond of animals myself, but I -shouldn't let them interfere with things of real importance.'</p> - -<p>'It is unfortunate,' said Auntie May in a cold, horrid tone, 'that I -should happen to fall in love with the only man I know who cannot be in -the same room with a cat. It is too absurd. But what can I do?'</p> - -<p>'Do, silly girl? Sell all this lot of kittens before you have time to -get fond of them; leave Petronilla with Dad, and they can be the prop -of each other's declining years—that is Dad's phrase, not mine, he -said it to me only this morning—and I—yes, I will have Loki, and Tom -shall take up every blessed trap on the place—I'll make him. There, -will that suit you?'</p> - -<p>'But I have got so used to having cats about. Must I be condemned to -live without a cat for all the rest of my life?'</p> - -<p>'May, I have no patience with you. You must give up something.'</p> - -<p>'Why can't <i>he</i> give up something, instead of me?'</p> - -<p>'You may be quite sure he does give up something—heaps of things—to -please you. He is willing to give up smoking—'</p> - -<p>'Yes, it makes me sick. But why should any one mind cats? It is absurd -that such a silly prejudice as that can't be got over.'</p> - -<p>'Well really, if cats make <i>him</i>, and smoking makes <i>you</i> sick, I -consider it a very fair exchange. I say, look at Loki, now, I should -take that kitten away from him if I were you, he is licking it to a -pulp.'</p> - -<p>Auntie May got up and took the kitten away from me. I had worked very -hard at it, and had made it quite wet. I thought I had done well. I -know I took pains. I had got my paws round its neck to steady it, and -it said nothing. I must say it looked rather shrunken and flattened out -thin when they took it away, but I believe Beatrice only mentioned it, -and objected to what I was doing to it, to change the conversation. She -probably thought she had been going on at May too long.</p> - -<p>All this time I had never seen the blessed Mr. Fox who was upsetting us -all so. I was kept carefully out of his way. Consequently I didn't see -much of my mistress.</p> - -<p>But one day I was in the studio under a console, behind the dummy, -behind Rosamond's portrait, in fact a good way off, and with a good -many artistic smells between me and Mr. Fox, who had come to see Auntie -May, and had been shown in there as the drawing-room was untidy and -having something done to it, and Mr. Graham was out varnishing at the -Royal Academy. Auntie May knew she had shut the door of her study, and -considered that I therefore could not possibly be anywhere but safe -upstairs. I wasn't in when she shut it, however, you see. I did not -show myself to them, tactfully, but tried to get out, following the -skirting board all the way to the door. There were heaps of things -propped up against the walls, and it was slow work. Besides, Mr. Fox -for once did not seem at all affected by my presence.</p> - -<p>I had only got half round the room when I heard Auntie May say:</p> - -<p>'Mr. Fox—' she hesitated a little, 'it might interest you perhaps to -know that I have decided to let Beatrice take Loki, while Pet stays -behind with Dad!'</p> - -<p>Poor Mr. Fox turned bright red, not pale as he generally does in the -presence of a cat, and said:</p> - -<p>'<i>Behind</i>—did you say?'</p> - -<p>'Behind me—that is, if you take <i>me</i> away—'</p> - -<p>When Auntie May said that, in a little voice, it seemed to please Mr. -Fox very much, though it was a simple enough thing to say. They sat -down on a sofa together and talked, and I thought it a good opportunity -to make finally for the door.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately one of the pictures against the wall was stood up too -straight, and when I came out from behind it it fell down with a -clatter. Auntie May got up and came to where I was, and when she saw me -she gave a little jump, and put her finger to her mouth and went back -to Mr. Fox.</p> - -<p>'Henry,' she said, 'how do you feel?'</p> - -<p>'I never felt better in my life, dear,' he answered. 'Since you gave -me your promise the whole air of the world seems changed. I could move -mountains, I feel so fit—'</p> - -<p>'Yet the air of the studio,' she said, 'is not particularly pure. The -smell of paint rags, and varnishes, and stale tobacco, and <i>cats</i>—'</p> - -<p>'What do you mean?'</p> - -<p>'I mean that my beloved Loki has been here in the room with you for the -last half-hour, and yet you have been praising the purity of the air -and exulting in your "fitness." Oh, Henry, perhaps you have got over -it?—say you have! Then I shall be quite happy!'</p> - -<p>'Perhaps I have,' said he. 'You, by your presence, are able to dispel -evil influences—temporarily, at any rate. We will try.'</p> - -<p>'No, Loki goes to Beatrice's all the same,' she said sadly, and put me -gently out of the door.</p> - -<p>I myself think it was the smell of the turpentines and varnishes, and -so on, that she had spoken of that made Mr. Fox not notice me, and I -foresaw that I should not see much more of my mistress in the time to -come.</p> - -<p>She married Mr. Fox in less than a month's time, and I have never seen -her cry so much in her life as on her wedding day when she kissed -mother and me and bade us goodbye. She kissed us twice, once before she -went to the church, and we got tangled up in her veil, and the smell -of orange blossoms (real, in her hair, that Mrs. Jay sent from Paris) -nearly made us ill, but we were proud to be so loved, and wished we -could follow her to the altar.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" id="illus11"> - <img src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>SHE MARRIED MR. FOX IN LESS THAN A MONTH.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Beatrice, in dove-coloured taffeta, to show that she was going to love -us dearly, and didn't think any frock too good for us, held us in -her arms too, and gave us a chance of crushing her trimmings, but she -didn't care, for it made Auntie May happy and sent her down with a -smile on her face. Rosamond, Amerye, and Kitty were her bridesmaids, -and very nice they looked, but I didn't take much notice of them, -knowing that I was going to spend the rest of my life with them in -Yorkshire. Tom met me on the staircase, just as I was stealing down to -see some of the fun.</p> - -<p>'Hollo, little beggar!' he said. 'Where are you off to so fast? Don't -you go near the bridegroom for your life, he is shaky enough already. -Back to barracks, back to barracks, young man!' and he took me by the -scruff of my neck and walked me upstairs to the study again. So I never -had another sight of Auntie May's husband, then or afterwards.</p> - -<p>Auntie May stays with Beatrice sometimes without him, but not for long. -They live in the summer at Shortleas. Of course she often comes over -for the day. When he comes with her I am carefully kept out of the -way, and, indeed, I fall in with their plans cheerfully, and arrange -to spend a good deal of time in the garden and employ myself as well -as I can, for I am becoming quite an outside cat now, and catch birds -and mice. One's sentiment becomes blunted with age, I find. I don't -suffer over my hunting proclivities as I used to do. Tom calls me the -sporting cat, and wouldn't shoot me for the world, I am too useful. -Beatrice is proud of me and my ruff, and shows me to visitors when she -can get me in in time. I always come when she calls me, unless I am -in the middle of a bird, and then I bring it along to show her why I -dawdled. She always screams and hides her face, and says:</p> - -<p>'Oh, take it away, Loki, don't show it <i>me</i>! I suppose you <i>must</i>, but -I needn't know it!'</p> - -<p>All the same, I know she thinks me smart to have caught it, and I never -spare her a bird.</p> - -<p>Auntie May's baby has two nurses to itself. They come and stay here -what Beatrice calls <i>ad lib</i>, while Auntie May and Mr. Fox are visiting -on the 'continong,' as the head nurse says. Of course Beatrice is very -glad to have them. The under nurse is a child, not much bigger than -Rosamond, and far more meddlesome than a child. This is the sort of -thing she does.</p> - -<p>Since I have been here I have learned that there are such things as -swallows—fidgety birds, that winter abroad like Auntie May and Mr. -Fox, and that I would as soon think of eating as I would of eating the -baby. I feel a sort of relationship, too, as if swallows were the -'smoke-blues' among birds; their fur is the kind of blue we are, only -darker, and they are not at all a common kind of bird.</p> - -<p>One summer a swallow built its nest in a tool-house not far off the -tree where the nurse and baby and Lotty used to take the pram and sit -all the afternoon. Lotty had not much to do; the nurse would hardly -trust her with baby, so she played about and pried into other people's -affairs. She discovered the swallow's nest high up under the eaves, -where nothing except a Lotty could possibly reach it. She poked away at -it with a stick, and pushed it down.</p> - -<p>There <i>was</i> a scene! Rosamond was so cross! When she was told, she ran -straight into the shed where Lotty told her all the birds were lying -about on the ground. She first bade the head nurse hold me and hide my -face under her dress, lest I should see her go in and learn where the -birds were. As if I did not know, and as if I should touch them! The -nurse put me into the pram beside the baby and rocked us both; and I -liked that, and lay quite still and waited for Rosamond to come back -out of the tool-house and tell us all about it. She soon came back and -sat down beside nurse and Tom, who had come out too. Lotty sneaked away -crying.</p> - -<p>'That little fool!' said Rosamond. 'What did she want to go into the -tool-shed for? One of the birds is not to be found, but I have picked -up the nest and two of the nestlings, and put them back and jammed -the remnants of the nest against the wall somehow. Will they live? -The only thing is that they would have been ready to fly in a day or -two. Perhaps the mother will come back and feed them? We must put a -saucer of bread and milk there. And keep Loki away. You must promise -faithfully not to go near the place to see, nurse. As for Lotty, she -will never look at a swallow again, I should hope. Ignorant meddling -little thing!'</p> - -<p>All the rest of that afternoon did I sit quietly beside the head nurse, -with my eye fixed on that shed. By and by I counted as many as ten -swallows flying in and out continually—making a great fuss, in fact. I -promised myself to go there and see for myself after dark.</p> - -<p>But I was saved from committing a very vile and foolish action. Of -course the sight of a cat, however harmless, would have driven away -the relations of the little swallows for ever! About a couple of hours -later, however, Rosamond went into the shed, and told Beatrice what she -had seen.</p> - -<p>'They have found the other swallow. There are three in the nest. I -looked. They must have heaved it up off the ground somehow on their -broad flat backs. Oh how I wish I had seen them do it! And it looks—I -can't actually swear it—as if some of the bread and milk had gone! -Wonderful creatures! Now in a day or two the nestlings will probably -fly away, and I shall be able to forgive Lotty!'</p> - -<p>Sure enough, a few days after this the nest was empty. There was no -other cat about the place but me, and I had not been near the shed, -but had relied solely for information on what I heard Rosamond tell -Beatrice. The nurse had, I am sorry to say, so little faith in human -nature that she believed to the last that I had eaten them all, but -Beatrice and Rosamond knew that I had not; they would have seen it in -my eyes if I had, so they said.</p> - -<p>I am called Rosamond's cat. It is Rosamond that I sit on the mat for -when she is out and run to when she comes home. I am very fond of -Rosamond, and I think her very good. I suppose that is the reason her -mother is so fond of her. That is the one thing I can never understand. -I never saw Beatrice 'bat' Rosamond as my mother 'batted' me. Instead, -I see Rosamond, at sixteen, get on to her mother's knee and sit there. -Beatrice evidently knows quite well that Rosamond is her child. I often -wonder if Rosamond went away for a long while, whether Beatrice would -not forget her, as mother forgot me while I was in Paris?</p> - -<p>Perhaps if they do decide to send her to Paris to be 'finished,' which -is talked of, when she comes back they will alter their ways, and -behave like ordinary people. Rosamond doesn't go to school, but has a -new governess every three months or so, so it shows that they do take -pains with her.</p> - -<p>I am not sure that I am not the reason they keep her at home. She could -not look after me if she were away at school, and as it is, she is -everything to me. Of course I never can love any one as much as Auntie -May; even now when I see her I can't mew for happiness. I just lie in -her lap and say nothing for hours, and she says to Beatrice:</p> - -<p>'I <i>wonder</i> if Loki really remembers me?'</p> - -<p>Oh, I am remembering all the time, only I can't say it! Why, there is -an old fur jacket of hers that she left here once for Rosamond that -I simply never let Rosamond have. I lay on it and covered it with -grey hairs, that won't brush off, thank goodness! So that in the end -Beatrice has given up all idea of taking it away from me, and it is -called Loki's coat, not Rosamond's.</p> - -<p>Rosamond sometimes looks at me sitting on it, and pretends to shriek, -and says:</p> - -<p>'I should be so warm this winter if Loki hadn't taken my nice winter -coat for himself!'</p> - -<p>I blink at her, and stretch out my paw, for I know it is all fun. What -is Auntie May's smell, that is all over that dear coat, to Rosamond, -compared with what it is to me? The oddest thing of all is that they -none of Them seem to imagine how awfully fond I am of Auntie May, and -how I hate Mr. Fox for taking my mistress away from me!</p> - -<p>One of these days at breakfast time there came a letter from Auntie -May, and they told me my mother was dead. Kitty tied a bit of black -ribbon round my paw. They don't understand. I kept it on till -dinner-time to please the child.</p> - -<p>A month later some one told me that Auntie May had found Zobeide again -at a cat-show at the Crystal Palace—or at least a cat that she was -sure <i>was</i> Zobeide from some secret signs she knew. She took a prize, -anyway. I gather that Auntie May was not able to make good her claim -on the cat. Fancy, nearly two years afterwards! Why, I am very much -altered since the day I was here first, and whacked Great-Uncle Tomyris -in the looking-glass in Beatrice's room. I saw him again the other day. -He looks older too, if a ghost <i>can</i> look older. I am not afraid of him -any more. I am bored by him, and don't care to raise so much as a paw -to him.</p> - -<p>I am really a very happy cat. I never worry. I eat brown bread. The -only bad thing that <i>could</i> happen to me, I think, would be that my new -mistress, Rosamond Gilmour, should go and choose a Mr. Fox for herself, -and then I should be thrown on the world again.</p> - -<p>Of course, she <i>may</i> marry, but I believe in that case she would take -me with her, and luckily the tribe of Foxes is not common.</p> - - -<p class="ph1">THE END</p> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. 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