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diff --git a/old/7cats10.txt b/old/7cats10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..414552d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7cats10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5545 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. Winslow + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Concerning Cats + My Own and Some Others + +Author: Helen M. Winslow + +Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9501] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CATS *** + + + + +Produced by Dr. Dwight Holden, Ted Garvin, David Garcia +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +CONCERNING CATS + +My Own and Some Others + +By Helen M. Winslow + +Editor of "The Club Woman" + + + +To the + +"PRETTY LADY" + +WHO NEVER BETRAYED A SECRET, BROKE A PROMISE, OR +PROVED AN UNFAITHFUL FRIEND; WHO HAD +ALL THE VIRTUES AND NONE OF +THE FAILINGS OF HER SEX + +I Dedicate this Volume + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. CONCERNING THE PRETTY LADY. + II. CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS. + III. CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS. + IV. CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS. + V. CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS. + VI. CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND. + VII. CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS. + VIII. CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN AMERICA. + IX. CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY. + X. CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS. + XI. CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES. + XII. CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS. + XIII. CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS. + XIV. CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE. + + + + + + +_Concerning Cats_ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CONCERNING THE "PRETTY LADY" + + +She was such a Pretty Lady, and gentle withal; so quiet and eminently +ladylike in her behavior, and yet dignified and haughtily reserved as a +duchess. Still it is better, under certain circumstances, to be a cat +than to be a duchess. And no duchess of the realm ever had more faithful +retainers or half so abject subjects. + +Do not tell me that cats never love people; that only places have real +hold upon their affections. The Pretty Lady was contented wherever I, +her most humble slave, went with her. She migrated with me from +boarding-house to sea-shore cottage; then to regular housekeeping; up to +the mountains for a summer, and back home, a long day's journey on the +railway; and her attitude was always "Wheresoever thou goest I will go, +and thy people shall be my people." + +I have known, and loved, and studied many cats, but my knowledge of her +alone would convince me that cats love people--in their dignified, +reserved way, and when they feel that their love is not wasted; that +they reason, and that they seldom act from impulse. + +I do not remember that I was born with an inordinate fondness for cats; +or that I cried for them as an infant. I do not know, even, that my +childhood was marked by an overweening pride in them; this, perhaps, was +because my cruel parents established a decree, rigid and unbending as +the laws of the Medes and Persians, that we must never have more than +one cat at a time. Although this very law may argue that predilection, +at an early age, for harboring everything feline which came in my way, +which has since become at once a source of comfort and distraction. + +After a succession of feline dynasties, the kings and queens of which +were handsome, ugly, sleek, forlorn, black, white, deaf, spotted, and +otherwise marked, I remember fastening my affections securely upon one +kitten who grew up to be the ugliest, gauntest, and dingiest specimen I +ever have seen. In the days of his kittenhood I christened him "Tassie" +after his mother; but as time sped on, and the name hardly comported +with masculine dignity, this was changed to Tacitus, as more befitting +his sex. He had a habit of dodging in and out of the front door, which +was heavy, and which sometimes swung together before he was well out of +it. As a consequence, a caudal appendage with two broken joints was one +of his distinguishing features. Besides a broken tail, he had ears which +bore the marks of many a hard-fought battle, and an expression which for +general "lone and lorn"-ness would have discouraged even Mrs. Gummidge. +But I loved him, and judging from the disconsolate and long-continued +wailing with which he rilled the house whenever I was away, my affection +was not unrequited. + +But my real thraldom did not begin until I took the Pretty Lady's +mother. We had not been a week in our first house before a handsomely +striped tabby, with eyes like beautiful emeralds, who had been the pet +and pride of the next-door neighbor for five years, came over and +domiciled herself. In due course of time she proudly presented us with +five kittens. Educated in the belief that one cat was all that was +compatible with respectability, I had four immediately disposed of, +keeping the prettiest one, which grew up into the beautiful, +fascinating, and seductive maltese "Pretty Lady," with white trimmings +to her coat. The mother of Pretty Lady used to catch two mice at a time, +and bringing them in together, lay one at my feet and say as plainly as +cat language can say, "There, you eat that one, and I'll eat this," and +then seem much surprised and disgusted that I had not devoured mine when +she had finished her meal. + +We were occupying a furnished house for the summer, however, and as we +were to board through the winter, I took only the kitten back to town, +thinking the mother would return to her former home, just over the +fence. But no. For two weeks she refused all food and would not once +enter the other house. Then I went out for her, and hearing my voice she +came in and sat down before me, literally scolding me for a quarter of +an hour. I shall be laughed at, but actual tears stood in her lovely +green eyes and ran down her aristocratic nose, attesting her grief and +accusing me, louder than her wailing, of perfidy. + +I could not keep her. She would not return to her old home. I finally +compromised by carrying her in a covered basket a mile and a half and +bestowing her upon a friend who loves cats nearly as well as I. But +although she was petted, and praised, and fed on the choicest of +delicacies, she would not be resigned. After six weeks of mourning, she +disappeared, and never was heard of more. Whether she sought a new and +more constant mistress, or whether, in her grief at my shameless +abandonment of her, she went to some lonely pier and threw herself off +the dock, will never be known. But her reproachful gaze and tearful +emerald eyes haunted me all winter. Many a restless night did I have to +reproach myself for abandoning a creature who so truly loved me; and in +many a dream did she return to heap shame and ignominy upon my repentant +head. + +This experience determined me to cherish her daughter, whom, rather, I +cherished as her son, until there were three little new-born kittens, +which in a moment of ignorance I "disposed of" at once. Naturally, the +young mother fell exceedingly ill. In the most pathetic way she dragged +herself after me, moaning and beseeching for help. Finally, I succumbed, +went to a neighbor's where several superfluous kittens had arrived the +night before, and begged one. It was a little black fellow, cold and +half dead; but the Pretty Lady was beside herself with joy when I +bestowed it upon her. For two days she would not leave the box where I +established their headquarters, and for months she refused to wean it, +or to look upon it as less than absolutely perfect. I may say that the +Pretty Lady lived to be nine years old, and had, during that brief +period, no less than ninety-three kittens, besides two adopted ones; but +never did she bestow upon any of her own offspring that wealth of pride +and affection which was showered upon black Bobbie. + +When the first child of her adoption was two weeks old, I was ill one +morning, and did not appear at breakfast. It had always been her custom +to wait for my coming down in the morning, evidently considering it a +not unimportant part of her duty to see me well launched for the day. +Usually she sat at the head of the stairs and waited patiently until she +heard me moving about. Sometimes she came in and sat on a chair at the +head of my bed, or gently touched my face with her nose or paw. Although +she knew she was at liberty to sleep in my room, she seldom did so, +except when she had an infant on her hands. At first she invariably kept +him in a lower drawer of my bureau. When he was large enough, she +removed him to the foot of the bed, where for a week or two her maternal +solicitude and sociable habits of nocturnal conversation with her +progeny interfered seriously with my night's rest. If my friends used to +notice a wild and haggard appearance of unrest about me at certain +periods of the year, the reason stands here confessed. + +I was ill when black Bobbie was two weeks old. The Pretty Lady waited +until breakfast was over, and as I did not appear, came up and jumped on +the bed, where she manifested some curiosity as to my lack of active +interest in the world's affairs. + +"Now, pussy," I said, putting out my hand and stroking her back, "I'm +sick this morning. When you were sick, I went and got you a kitten. +Can't you get me one?" + +This was all. My sister came in then and spoke to me, and the Pretty +Lady left us at once; but in less than two minutes she came back with +her cherished kitten in her mouth. Depositing him in my neck, she stood +and looked at me, as much as to say:-- + +"There, you can take him awhile. He cured me and I won't be selfish; I +will share him with you." + +I was ill for three days, and all that time the kitten was kept with me. +When his mother wanted him, she kept him on the foot of the bed, where +she nursed, and lapped, and scrubbed him until it seemed as if she must +wear even his stolid nerves completely out. But whenever she felt like +going out she brought him up and tucked him away in the hollow of my +neck, with a little guttural noise that, interpreted, meant:-- + +"There, now you take care of him awhile. I'm all tired out. Don't wake +him up." + +But when the infant had dropped soundly asleep, she invariably came back +and demanded him; and not only demanded, but dragged him forth from his +lair by the nape of the neck, shrieking and protesting, to the foot of +the bed again, where he was obliged to go through another course of +scrubbing and vigorous maternal attentions that actually kept his fur +from growing as fast as the coats of less devotedly cared-for kittens +grow. + +When I was well enough to leave my room, she transferred him to my lower +bureau drawer, and then to a vantage-point behind an old lounge. But she +never doubted, apparently, that it was the loan of that kitten that +rescued me from an untimely grave. + +I have lost many an hour of much-needed sleep from my cat's habit of +coming upstairs at four A.M. and jumping suddenly upon the bed; perhaps +landing on the pit of my stomach. Waking in that fashion, unsympathetic +persons would have pardoned me if I had indulged in injudicious +language, or had even thrown the cat violently from my otherwise +peaceful couch. But conscience has not to upbraid me with any of these +things. I flatter myself that I bear even this patiently; I remember to +have often made sleepy but pleasant remarks to the faithful little +friend whose affection for me and whose desire to behold my countenance +was too great to permit her to wait till breakfast time. + +If I lay awake for hours afterward, perhaps getting nothing more than +literal "cat-naps," I consoled myself with remembering how Richelieu, +and Wellington, and Mohammed, and otherwise great as well as +discriminating persons, loved cats; I remembered, with some stirrings of +secret pride, that it is only the artistic nature, the truly aesthetic +soul that appreciates poetry, and grace, and all refined beauty, who +truly loves cats; and thus meditating with closed eyes, I courted +slumber again, throughout the breaking dawn, while the cat purred in +delight close at hand. + +The Pretty Lady was evidently of Angora or coon descent, as her fur was +always longer and silkier than that of ordinary cats. She was fond of +all the family. When we boarded in Boston, we kept her in a front room, +two flights from the ground. Whenever any of us came in the front door, +she knew it. No human being could have told, sitting in a closed room in +winter, two flights up, the identity of a person coming up the steps and +opening the door. But the Pretty Lady, then only six months old, used to +rouse from her nap in a big chair, or from the top of a folding bed, +jump down, and be at the hall door ready to greet the incomer, before +she was halfway up the stairs. The cat never got down for the wrong +person, and she never neglected to meet any and every member of our +family who might be entering. The irreverent scoffer may call it +"instinct," or talk about the "sense of smell." I call it sagacity. + +One summer we all went up to the farm in northern Vermont, and decided +to take her and her son, "Mr. McGinty," with us. We put them both in a +large market-basket and tied the cover securely. On the train Mr. +McGinty manifested a desire to get out, and was allowed to do so, a +stout cord having been secured to his collar first, and the other end +tied to the car seat. He had a delightful journey, once used to the +noise and motion of the train. He sat on our laps, curled up on the seat +and took naps, or looked out of the windows with evident puzzlement at +the way things had suddenly taken to flying; he even made friends with +the passengers, and in general amused himself as any other traveller +would on an all-day's journey by rail, except that he did not risk his +eyesight by reading newspapers. But the Pretty Lady had not travelled +for some years, and did not enjoy the trip as well as formerly; on the +contrary she curled herself into a round tight ball in one corner of the +basket till the journey's end was reached. + +Once at the farm she seemed contented as long as I remained with her. +There was plenty of milk and cream, and she caught a great many mice. +She was far too dainty to eat them, but she had an inherent pleasure in +catching mice, just like her more plebeian sisters; and she enjoyed +presenting them to Mr. McGinty or me, or some other worthy object of her +solicitude. + +She was at first afraid of "the big outdoors." The wide, wind-blown +spaces, the broad, sunshiny sky, the silence and the roominess of it +all, were quite different from her suburban experiences; and the farm +animals, too, were in her opinion curiously dangerous objects. Big Dan, +the horse, was truly a horrible creature; the rooster was a new and +suspicious species of biped, and the bleating calves objects of her +direst hatred. + +The pig in his pen possessed for her the most horrid fascination. Again +and again would she steal out and place herself where she could see that +dreadful, strange, pink, fat creature inside his own quarters. She would +fix her round eyes widely upon him in blended fear and admiration. If +the pig uttered the characteristic grunt of his race, the Pretty Lady at +first ran swiftly away; but afterward she used to turn and gaze +anxiously at us, as if to say:-- + +"Do you hear that? Isn't this a truly horrible creature?" and in other +ways evince the same sort of surprise that a professor in the Peabody +Museum might, were the skeleton of the megatherium suddenly to accost +him after the manner peculiar to its kind. + +It was funnier, even, to see Mr. McGinty on the morning after his +arrival at the farm, as he sallied forth and made acquaintance with +other of God's creatures than humans and cats, and the natural enemy of +his kind, the dog. In his suburban home he had caught rats and captured +on the sly many an English sparrow. When he first investigated his new +quarters on the farm, he discovered a beautiful flock of very large +birds led by one of truly gorgeous plumage. + +"Ah!" thought Mr. McGinty, "this is a great and glorious country, where +I can have such birds as these for the catching. Tame, too. I'll have +one for breakfast." + +So he crouched down, tiger-like, and crept carefully along to a +convenient distance and was preparing to spring, when the large and +gorgeous bird looked up from his worm and remarked:-- + +"Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut!" and, taking his wives, withdrew toward the +barn. + +Mr. McGinty drew back amazed. "This is a queer bird," he seemed to say; +"saucy, too. However, I'll soon have him," and he crept more carefully +than before up to springing distance, when again this most gorgeous bird +drew up and exclaimed, with a note of annoyance:-- + +"Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut! What ails that old cat, anyway?" And again he +led his various wives barn-ward. + +Mr. McGinty drew up with a surprised air, and apparently made a cursory +study of the leading anatomical features of this strange bird; but he +did not like to give up, and soon crouched and prepared for another +onslaught. This time Mr. Chanticleer allowed the cat to come up close to +his flock, when he turned and remarked in the most amicable manner, +"Cut-cut-cut-cut!" which interpreted seemed to mean: "Come now; that's +all right. You're evidently new here; but you'd better take my advice +and not fool with me." + +Anyhow, with this, down went McGinty's hope of a bird breakfast "to the +bottom of the sea," and he gave up the hunt. He soon made friends, +however, with every animal on the place, and so endeared himself to the +owners that he lived out his days there with a hundred acres and more as +his own happy hunting-ground. + +Not so, the Pretty Lady. I went away on a short visit after a few weeks, +leaving her behind. From the moment of my disappearance she was uneasy +and unhappy. On the fifth day she disappeared. When I returned and found +her not, I am not ashamed to say that I hunted and called her +everywhere, nor even that I shed a few tears when days rolled into weeks +and she did not appear, as I realized that she might be starving, or +have suffered tortures from some larger animal. + +There are many remarkable stories of cats who find their way home across +almost impossible roads and enormous distances. There is a saying, +believed by many people, "You can't lose a cat," which can be proved by +hundreds of remarkable returns. But the Pretty Lady had absolutely no +sense of locality. She had always lived indoors and had never been +allowed to roam the neighborhood. It was five weeks before we found +trace of her, and then only by accident. My sister was passing a field +of grain, and caught a glimpse of a small creature which she at first +thought to be a woodchuck. She turned and looked at it, and called +"Pussy, pussy," when with a heart-breaking little cry of utter delight +and surprise, our beloved cat came toward her. From the first, the wide +expanse of the country had confused her; she had evidently "lost her +bearings" and was probably all the time within fifteen minutes' walk of +the farm-house. + +When found, she was only a shadow of herself, and for the first and only +time in her life we could count her ribs. She was wild with delight, and +clung to my sister's arms as though fearing to lose her; and in all the +fuss that was made over her return, no human being could have showed +more affection, or more satisfaction at finding her old friends again. + +That she really was lost, and had no sense of locality to guide her +home, was proven by her conduct after she returned to her Boston home. I +had preceded my sister, and was at the theatre on the evening when she +arrived with the Pretty Lady. The latter was carried into the kitchen, +taken from her basket, and fed. Then, instead of going around the house +and settling herself in her old home, she went into the front hall which +she had left four months before, and seated herself on the spot where +she always watched and waited when I was out. When I came home at +eleven, I saw through the screen door her "that was lost and is found." +She had been waiting to welcome me for three mortal hours. + +I wish those people who believe cats have no affection for people could +have seen her then. She would not leave me for an instant, and +manifested her love in every possible way; and when I retired for the +night, she curled up on my pillow and purred herself contentedly to +sleep, only rising when I did. After breakfast that first morning after +her return, she asked to be let out of the back door, and made me +understand that I must go with her. I did so, and she explored every +part of the back yard, entreating me in the same way she called her +kittens to keep close by her. She investigated our own premises +thoroughly and then crept carefully under the fences on either side into +the neighbor's precincts where she had formerly visited in friendly +fashion; then she came timidly back, all the time keeping watch that she +did not lose me. Having finished her tour of inspection, she went in and +led me on an investigating trip all through the house, smelling of every +corner and base-board, and insisting that every closet door should be +opened, so that she might smell each closet through in the same way. +When this was done, she settled herself in one of her old nooks for a +nap and allowed me to leave. + +But never again did she go out of sight of the house. For more than a +year she would not go even into a neighbor's yard, and when she finally +decided that it might be safe to crawl under the fences on to other +territory, she invariably turned about to sit facing the house, as +though living up to a firm determination never to lose sight of it +again. This practice she kept up until at the close of her last mortal +sickness, when she crawled into a dark place under a neighboring barn +and said good-by to earthly fears and worries forever. + +_Requiescat in pace_, my Pretty Lady. I wish all your sex had your +gentle dignity, and grace, and beauty, to say nothing of your +faithfulness and affection. Like Mother Michel's "Monmouth," it may be +said of you:-- + + "She was merely a cat, + But her Sublime Virtues place her on a level with + The Most Celebrated Mortals, + and + In Ancient Egypt + Altars would have been Erected to her + Memory." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS + + +"Oh, what a lovely cat!" is a frequent expression from visitors or +passers-by at our house. And from the Pretty Lady down through her +various sons and daughters to the present family protector and head, +"Thomas Erastus," and the Angora, "Lady Betty," there have been some +beautiful creatures. + +Mr. McGinty was a solid-color maltese, with fur like a seal for +closeness and softness, and with the disposition of an angel. He used to +be seized with sudden spasms of affection and run from one to another of +the family, rubbing his soft cheeks against ours, and kissing us +repeatedly. This he did by taking gentle little affectionate nips with +his teeth. I used to give him a certain caress, which he took as an +expression of affection. After leaving him at the farm I did not see him +again for two years. Then on a short visit, I asked for Mr. McGinty and +was told that he was in a shed chamber. I found him asleep in a box of +grain and took him out; he looked at me through sleepy eyes, turned +himself over and stretched up for the old caress. As nobody ever gave +him that but me, I take this as conclusive proof that he not only knew +me, but remembered my one peculiarity. + +Then there was old Pomp, called "old" to distinguish him from the young +Pomp of to-day, or "Pompanita." He died of pneumonia at the age of three +years; but he was the handsomest black cat--and the blackest--I have +ever seen. He had half a dozen white hairs under his chin; but his +blackness was literally like the raven's wing. Many handsome black cats +show brown in the strong sunlight, or when their fur is parted. But old +Pomp's fur was jet black clear through, and in the sunshine looked as if +he had been made up of the richest black silk velvet, his eyes, +meanwhile, being large and of the purest amber. He weighed some fifteen +pounds, and that somebody envied us the possession of him was evident, +as he was stolen two or three times during the last summer of his life. +But he came home every time; only when Death finally stole him, we had +no redress. + +"Bobinette," the black kitten referred to in the previous chapter, also +had remarkably beautiful eyes. We used to keep him in ribbons to match, +and he knew color, too, perfectly well. For instance, if we offered him +a blue or a red ribbon, he would not be quiet long enough to have it +tied on; but show him a yellow one, and he would prance across the room, +and not only stand still to have it put on, but purr and evince the +greatest pride in it. + +Bobinette had another very pretty trick of playing with the +tape-measure. He used to bring it to us and have it wound several times +around his body; then he would "chase himself" until he got it off, when +he would bring it back and ask plainly to have it wound round him again. +After a little we noticed he was wearing the tape-measure out, and so we +tried to substitute it with an old ribbon or piece of cotton tape. But +Bobinette would have none of them. On the contrary, he repeatedly +climbed on to the table and to the work-basket, and hunted patiently for +his tape-measure, and even if it were hidden in a pocket, he kept up the +search until he unearthed it; and he would invariably end by dragging +forth that particular tape-measure and bringing it to us. I need not say +that his intelligence was rewarded. + +Speaking of colors, a friend has a cat that is devoted to blue. When she +puts on a particularly pretty blue gown, the cat hastens to get into her +lap, put her face down to the material, purr, and manifest the greatest +delight; but let the same lady put on a black dress, and the cat will +not come near her. + +"Pompanita," the second Pomp in our dynasty, is a fat and billowy black +fellow, now five years old and weighing nineteen pounds. He was the last +of the Pretty Lady's ninety-three children. Only a few of this vast +progeny, however, grew to cat-hood, as she was never allowed to keep +more than one each season. The Pretty Lady, in fact, came to regard this +as the only proper method. On one occasion I had been away all day. When +I got home at night the housekeeper said, "Pussy has had five kittens, +but she won't go near them." When the Pretty Lady heard my voice, she +came and led the way to the back room where the kittens were in the +lower drawer of an unused bureau, and uttered one or two funny little +noises, intimating that matters were not altogether as they should be, +according to established rules of propriety. I understood, abstracted +four of the five kittens, and disappeared. When I came back she had +settled herself contentedly with the remaining kitten, and from that +time on was a model mother. + +Pompanita the Good has all the virtues of a good cat, and absolutely no +vices. He loves us all and loves all other cats as well. As for +fighting, he emulates the example of that veteran who boasts that during +the war he might always be found where the shot and shell were the +thickest,--under the ammunition wagon. Like most cats he has a decided +streak of vanity. My sister cut a wide, fancy collar, or ruff, of white +paper one day, and put it on Pompanita. At first he felt much abashed +and found it almost impossible to walk with it. But a few words of +praise and encouragement changed all that. + +"Oh, what a pretty Pomp he is now!" exclaimed one and another, until he +sat up coyly and cocked his head one side as if to say:-- + +"Oh, now, do you really think I look pretty?" and after a few more +assurances he got down and strutted as proudly as any peacock; much to +the discomfiture of the kitten, who wanted to play with him. And now he +will cross the yard any time to have one of those collars on. + +But Thomas Erastus is the prince of our cats to-day. He weighs seventeen +pounds, and is a soft, grayish-maltese with white paws and breast. One +Saturday night ten years ago, as we were partaking of our regular Boston +baked beans, I heard a faint mew. Looking down I saw beside me the +thinnest kitten I ever beheld. The Irish girl who presided over our +fortunes at the time used to place the palms of her hands together and +say of Thomas's appearance, "Why, mum, the two sides of 'im were just +like that." I picked him up, and he crawled pathetically into my neck +and cuddled down. + +"There," said a friend who was sitting opposite, "he's fixed himself +now. You'll keep him." + +"No, I shall not," I said, "but I will feed him a few days and give him +to my cousin." Inside half an hour, however, Thomas Erastus had assumed +the paternal air toward us that soon made us fear to lose him. Living +without Thomas now would be like a young girl's going out without a +chaperone. After that first half-hour, when he had been fed, he chased +every foreign cat off the premises, and assumed the part of a watch-dog. +To this day he will sit on the front porch or the window-sill and growl +if he sees a tramp or suspicious character approaching. He always goes +into the kitchen when the market-man calls, and orders his meat; and at +exactly five o'clock in the afternoon, when the meat is cut up and +distributed, leads the feline portion of the family into the kitchen. + +Thomas knows the time of day. For six months he waked up one housekeeper +at exactly seven o'clock in the morning, never varying two minutes. He +did this by seating himself on her chest and gazing steadfastly in her +face. Usually this waked her, but if she did not yield promptly to that +treatment he would poke her cheeks with the most velvety of paws until +she awoke. He has a habit now of going upstairs and sitting opposite the +closed door of the young man who has to rise hours before the rest of us +do, and waiting until the door is opened for him. How he knows at what +particular moment each member of the family will wake up and come forth +is a mystery, but he does. + +How do cats tell the hour of day, anyway? The old Chinese theory that +they are living clocks is, in a way, borne out by their own conduct. Not +only have my cats shown repeatedly that they know the hour of rising of +every member of the family, but they gather with as much regularity as +the ebbing of the tides, or the setting of the sun, at exactly five +o'clock in the afternoon for their supper. They are given a hearty +breakfast as soon as the kitchen fire is started in the morning. This +theoretically lasts them until five. I say theoretically, because if +they wake from their invariable naps at one, and smell lunch, they +individually wheedle some one into feeding them. But this is only +individually. Collectively they are fed at five. + +They are the most methodical creatures in the world. They go to bed +regularly at night when the family does. They are waiting in the kitchen +for breakfast when the fire is started in the morning. Then they go out +of doors and play, or hunt, or ruminate until ten o'clock, when they +come in, seek their favorite resting-places, and sleep until four. +Evidently, from four to five is a play hour, and the one who wakes first +is expected to stir up the others. But at exactly five, no matter where +they may have strayed to, every one of the three, five, or seven (as the +number may happen to be) will be sitting in his own particular place in +the kitchen, waiting with patient eagerness for supper. For each has a +particular place for eating, just as bigger folk have their places at +the dining table. Thomas Erastus sits in a corner; the space under the +table is reserved especially for Jane. Pompanita is at his mistress's +feet, and Lady Betty, the Angora, bounds to her shoulder when their meat +appears. Their table manners are quite irreproachable also. It is +considered quite unpardonable to snatch at another's piece of meat, and +a breach of the best cat-etiquette to show impatience while another is +being fed. + +I do not pretend to say that this is entirely natural. They are taught +these things as kittens, and since cats are as great sticklers for +propriety and gentle manners as any human beings can be, they never +forget it. Doubtless, this is easier because they are always well fed, +but Thomas Erastus or Jane would have to be on the verge of starvation, +I am sure, before they would "grab" from one of the other cats. And as +for the Pretty Lady, it was always necessary to see that she was +properly served. She would not eat from a dish with other cats, or, +except in extreme cases, from one they had left. Indeed, she was +remarkable in this respect. I have seen her sit on the edge of a table +where chickens were being dressed and wait patiently for a tidbit; I +have seen her left alone in the room, while on that table was a piece of +raw steak, but no temptation was ever great enough to make her touch any +of these forbidden things. She actually seemed to have a conscience. + +Only one thing on the dining table would she touch. When she was two or +three months old, she somehow got hold of the table-napkins done up in +their rings. These were always to her the most delightful playthings in +the world. As a kitten, she would play with them by the hour, if not +taken away, and go to sleep cuddled affectionately around them. She got +over this as she grew older; but when her first kitten was two or three +months old, remembering the jolly times she used to have, she would +sneak into the dining room and get the rolled napkins, carry them in her +mouth to her infant, and endeavor with patient anxiety to show him how +to play with them. Throughout nine years of motherhood she went through +the same performance with every kitten she had. They never knew what to +do with the napkins, or cared to know, and would have none of them. But +she never got discouraged. She would climb up on the sideboard, or into +the china closet, and even try to get into drawers where the napkins +were laid away in their rings. If she could get hold of one, she would +carry it with literal groans and evident travail of spirit to her +kitten, and by further groans and admonitions seem to say:-- + +"Child, see this beautiful plaything I have brought you. This is a part +of your education; it is just as necessary for you to know how to play +with this as to poke your paw under the closet door properly. Wake up, +now, and play with it." + +Sometimes, when the table was laid over night, we used to hear her +anguished groans in the stillness of the night. In the morning every +napkin belonging to the family would be found in a different part of the +house, and perhaps a ring would be missing. These periods, however, only +lasted as long, in each new kitten's training, as the few weeks that she +had amused herself with them at their age. Then she would drop the +subject, and napkins had no further interest than the man in the moon +until another kitten arrived at the age when she considered them a +necessary part of his education. + +Professor Shaler in his interesting book on the intelligence of animals +gives the cat only the merest mention, intimating that he considers them +below par in this respect, and showing little real knowledge of them. I +wish he might have known the Pretty Lady. + +Once our Lady Betty had four little Angora kittens. She was probably the +most aristocratic cat in the country, for she kept a wet nurse. Poor +Jane, of commoner strain, had two small kittens the day after the Angora +family appeared. Jane's plebeian infants promptly disappeared, but she +took just as promptly to the more aristocratic family and fulfilled the +duties of nurse and maid. Both cats and four kittens occupied the same +bureau drawer, and when either cat wanted the fresh air she left the +other in charge; and there was a tacit understanding between them that +the fluffy, fat babies must never be left alone one instant. Four small +and lively kittens in the house are indeed things of beauty, and a joy +as long as they last. Four fluffy little Angora balls they were Chin, +Chilla, Buffie, and Orange Pekoe, names that explain their color. And +Jane, wet nurse and waiting-maid, had to keep as busy as the old woman +that lived in a shoe. Jane it was who must look after the infants when +Lady Betty wished to leave the house. Jane it was who must scrub the +furry quartet until their silky fur stood up in bunches the wrong way +all over their chubby little sides; Jane must sleep with them nights, +and be ready to furnish sustenance at any moment of day or night; and +above all, Jane must watch them anxiously and incessantly in waking +hours, uttering those little protesting murmurs of admonition which +mother cats deem so necessary toward the proper training of kittens. +And, poor Jane! As lady's maid she must bathe Lady Betty's brow every +now and then, as the more finely strung Angora succumbed to the nervous +strain of kitten-rearing, and she turned affectionately to Jane for +comfort. A prettier sight, or a more profitable study of the love of +animals for each other was never seen than Lady Betty, her infants, and +her nurse-maid. And yet, there are people who pronounce cats stupid. + +One evening I returned from the theatre late and roused up the four +fluffy kittens, who, seeing the gas turned on, started in for a frolic. +The lady mother did not approve of midnight carousals on the part of +infants, and protested with mild wails against their joyful caperings. +Finally, Orange Pekoe got into the closet and Lady Betty pursued him. +But suddenly a strange odor was detected. Sitting on her haunches she +smelled all over the bottom of the skirt which had just been hung up, +stopping every few seconds to utter a little worried note of warning to +the kittens. The infants, however, displayed a quite human disregard of +parental authority and gambolled on unconcernedly under the skirt; +reminding one of the old New England primer style of tales, showing how +disobedient children flaunt themselves in the face of danger, despite +the judicious advice of their elders. Lady Betty could do nothing with +them, and grew more nervous and worried every minute in consequence. +Suddenly she bethought herself of that never-failing source of strength +and comfort, Jane. She went into the next room, and, although I had not +heard a sound, returned in a moment with the maltese. Jane was ushered +into the closet, and soon scented out the skirt. Then she too sat on her +haunches and gave a long, careful sniff, turned round and uttered one +"purr-t-t," and took the Angora off with her. Jane had discovered that +there was no element of danger in the closet, and had imparted her +knowledge to the finely strung Angora in an instant. And so, taking her +back to bed, she "bathed her brow" with gentle lappings until Lady Betty +sank off to quiet sleep, soothed and comforted. + +It is not easy to study a cat. They are like sensitive plants, and shut +themselves instinctively away from the human being who does not care for +them. They know when a man or a woman loves them, almost before they +come into the human presence; and it is almost useless for the +unsympathetic person to try to study a cat. But the thousands who do +love cats know that they are the most individual animals in the world. +Dogs are much alike in their love for mankind, their obedience, +faithfulness, and, in different degrees, their sagacity. But there is as +much individuality in cats as in people. + +Dogs and horses are our slaves; cats never. This does not prove them +without affection, as some people seem to think; on the contrary, it +proves their peculiar and characteristic dignity and self-respect. +Women, poets, and especially artists, like cats; delicate natures only +can realize their sensitive nervous systems. + +The Pretty Lady's mother talked almost incessantly when she was in the +house. One of her habits was to get on the window-seat outside and +demand to be let in. If she was not waited upon immediately, she would, +when the door was finally opened, stop when halfway in and scold +vigorously. The tones of her voice and the expression of her face were +so exactly like those of a scolding, vixenish woman that she caused many +a hearty laugh by her tirades. + +Thomas Erastus, however, seldom utters a sound, and at the rare +intervals when he condescends to purr, he can only be heard by holding +one's ear close to his great, soft sides. But he has the most remarkable +ways. He will open every door in the house from the inside; he will even +open blinds, getting his paw under the fastening and working patiently +at it, with his body on the blind itself, until the hook flies back and +it finally opens. One housekeeper trained him to eat his meat close up +in one corner of the kitchen. This custom he kept up after she went +away, until new and uncommonly frisky kittens annoyed him so that his +place was transferred to the top of an old table. When he got hungry in +those days, however, he used to go and crowd close up in his corner and +look so pathetically famished that food was generally forthcoming at +once. Thomas was formerly very much devoted to the lady who lived next +door, and was as much at home in her house as in ours. Her family rose +an hour or two earlier than ours in the morning, and their breakfast +hour came first. I should attribute Thomas's devotion to Mrs. T. to this +fact, since he invariably presented himself at her dining-room window +and wheedled her into feeding him, were it not that his affection seemed +just as strong throughout the day. It was interesting to see him go over +and rattle her screen doors, front, back, or side, knowing perfectly +well that he would bring some one to open and let him in. + +Thomas has a really paternal air toward the rest of the family. One +spring night, as usual on retiring, I went to the back door to call in +the cats. Thomas Erastus was in my sister's room, but none of the others +were to be seen; nor did they come at once, evidently having strayed in +their play beyond the sound of my voice. Thomas, upstairs, heard my +continued call and tried for some time to get out. M. had shut her door, +thinking to keep in the one already safe. But the more I called, the +more persistently determined he became to get out. At last M. opened her +window and let him on to the sloping roof of the "L," from which he +could descend through a gnarled old apple tree. Meanwhile I left the +back door and went on with my preparations for the night. About ten +minutes later I went and called the cats again. It was a moonlight night +and I saw six delinquent cats coming in a flock across the open field +behind the house,--all marshalled by Mr. Thomas. He evidently hunted +them up and called them in himself; then he sat on the back porch and +waited until the last kit was safely in, before he stalked gravely in +with an air which said as plainly as words:-- + +"There, it takes _me_ to do anything with this family." + +None of my cats would think of responding to the call of "Kitty, Kitty," +or "Puss, Puss." They are early taught their names and answer to them. +Neither would one answer to the name of another, except in occasional +instances where jealousy prompts them to do so. We have to be most +careful when we go out of an evening, not to let Thomas Erastus get out +at the same time. In case he does, he will follow us either to the +railroad station or to the electric cars and wait in some near-by nook +until we come back. I have known him to sit out from seven until +midnight of a cold, snowy winter evening, awaiting our return from the +theatre. When we alight from the cars he is nowhere to be seen. But +before we have gone many steps, lo! Thomas Erastus is behind or beside +us, proudly escorting his mistresses home, but looking neither at them, +nor to the right or left. Not until he reaches the porch does he allow +himself to be petted. But on our way to the cars his attitude is +different. He is as frisky as a kitten. In vain do we try to "shoo" him +back, or catch him. He prances along, just out of reach, but +tantalizingly close; when we get aboard our car, we know he is safe in +some corner gazing sadly after us, and that no danger can drive him home +until we reappear. + +Both Thomas and Pompanita take a deep interest in all household affairs, +although in this respect they do not begin to show the curiosity of the +Pretty Lady. Never a piece of furniture was changed in he house that she +did not immediately notice, the first time she came into the room +afterward; and she invariably jumped up on the article and thoroughly +investigated affairs before settling down again. Every parcel that came +in must be examined, and afterward she must lie on the paper or inside +the box that it came in, always doing this with great solemnity and +gazing earnestly out of her large, intelligent dark eyes. Toward the +close of her life she was greatly troubled at any unusual stir in the +household. She liked to have company, but nothing disturbed her more +than to have a man working in the cellar, putting in coal, cutting wood, +or doing such work. She used then to follow us uneasily about and look +earnestly up into our faces, as if to say:-- + +"Girls, this is not right. Everything is all upset here and 'a' the +world's gang agley.' Why don't you fix it?" + +She was the politest creature, too. That was the reason of her name. In +her youth she was christened "Pansy"; then "Cleopatra," "Susan," "Lady +Jane Grey" and the "Duchess." But her manners were so punctiliously +perfect, and she was such a "pretty lady" always and everywhere; +moreover she had such a habit of sitting with her hands folded politely +across her gentle, lace-vandyked bosom that the only sobriquet that ever +clung was the one that expressed herself the most perfectly. She was in +every sense a "Pretty Lady." For years she ate with us at the table. Her +chair was placed next to mine, and no matter where she was or how +soundly she had been sleeping, when the dinner bell rang she was the +first to get to her seat. Then she sat patiently until I fixed a dainty +meal in a saucer and placed it in the chair beside her, when she ate it +in the same well-bred way she did everything. + +Thomas Erastus hurt his foot one day. Rather he got it hurt during a +matutinal combat at which he was forced, being the head of the family, +to be present, although he is far above the midnight carousals of his +kind. Thomas Erastus sometimes loves to consider himself an invalid. +When his doting mistress was not looking, he managed to step off on that +foot quite lively, especially if his mortal enemy, a disreputable black +tramp, skulked across the yard. But let Thomas Erastus see a feminine +eye gazing anxiously at him through an open window, and he immediately +hobbled on three legs; then he would stop and sit down and assume so +pathetic an expression of patient suffering that the mistress's heart +would melt, and Thomas Erastus would find himself being borne into the +house and placed on the softest sofa. Once she caught him down cellar. +There is a window to which he has easy access, and where he can go in +and out a hundred times a day. Evidently he had planned to do so at that +moment. But seeing his fond mistress, he sat down on the cellar floor, +and with his most fetching expression gazed wistfully back and forth +from her to the window. And of course she picked him up carefully and +put him on the window ledge. Thomas Erastus has all the innocent guile +of a successful politician. He could manage things slicker than the +political bosses, an' he would. + +One summer Thomas Erastus moved--an event of considerable importance in +his placid existence. He had to travel a short distance on the +steam-cars; and worse, he needs must endure the indignity of travelling +that distance in a covered basket. But his dignity would not suffer him +to do more than send forth one or two mournful wails of protest. After +being kept in his new house for a couple of days, he was allowed to go +out and become familiar with his surroundings--not without fear and +trepidation on the part of his doting mistress that he might make a bold +strike for his former home. But Thomas Erastus felt he had a mission to +perform for his race. He would disprove that mistaken theory that a cat, +no matter how kindly he is treated, cares more for places than for +people. Consequently he would not dream of going back to his old haunts. + +No; he sat down in the front yard and took a long look at his +surroundings, the neighboring lots, a field of grass, a waving +corn-field. He had already convinced himself that the new house was +home, because in it were all the old familiar things, and he had been +allowed to investigate every bit of it and to realize what had happened. +So after looking well about him he made a series of tours of +investigation. First, he took a bee-line for the farthest end of the +nearest vacant lot; then he chose the corn-field; then the beautiful +broad grounds of the neighbor below; then across the street; but between +each of these little journeys he took a bee-line back to his +starting-point, sat down in front of the new house, and "got his +bearings," just as evidently as though he could have said out loud, +"This is my home and I mustn't lose it." In this way he convinced +himself that where he lives is the centre of the universe, and that the +world revolves around him. And he has since been as happy as a +cricket,--yea, happier, for death and destruction await the unfortunate +cricket where Thomas Erastus thrives. + +But don't say a cat can't or won't be moved. It's your own fault if he +won't. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + + +Every observing reader of Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford's stories knows +that she is fond of cats and understands them. Her heroines usually +have, among other feminine belongings and accessories, one or more cats. +"Four great Persian cats haunted her every footstep," she says of Honor, +in the "Composite Wife." "A sleepy, snowy creature like some +half-animated ostrich plume; a satanic thing with fiery eyes that to Mr. +Chipperley's perception were informed with the very bottomless flames; +another like a golden fleece, caressing, half human; and a little +mouse-colored imp whose bounds and springs and feathery tail-lashings +not only did infinite damage among the Venetian and Dresden +knick-knackerie, but among Mr. Chipperley's nerves." + +In her beautiful, old-fashioned home at Newburyport, Mass., she has two +beloved cats. But I will not attempt to improve on her own account of +them:-- + +"As for my own cats,--their name has been legion, although a few remain +preeminent. There was Miss Spot who came to us already named, preferring +our domicile to the neighboring one she had. Her only son was so black +that he was known as Ink Spot, but her only daughter was so altogether +ideal and black, too, that she was known as Beauty Spot. Beauty Spot led +a sorrowful life, and was fortunately born clothed in black or her +mourning would have been expensive, as she was always in a bereaved +condition, her drowned offspring making a shoal in the Merrimac, +although she had always plenty left. She solaced herself with music. She +would never sit in any one's lap but mine, and in mine only when I sang; +and then only when I sang 'The Last Rose of Summer.' This is really +true. But she would spring into my husband's lap if he whistled. She +would leave her sleep reluctantly, start a little way, and retreat, +start and retreat again, and then give one bound and light on his knee +or his arm and reach up one paw and push it repeatedly across his mouth +like one playing the jew's-harp; I suppose to get at the sound. She +always went to walk with us and followed us wherever we went about the +island. + +"Lucifer and Phosphor have been our cats for the last ten years: +Lucifer, entirely black, Phosphor, as yellow as saffron, a real golden +fleece. My sister lived in town and going away for the summer left her +cat in a neighbor's care, and the neighbor moved away meanwhile and left +the cat to shift for herself. She went down to the apothecary's, two +blocks away or more. There she had a family of kittens, but apparently +came up to reconnoitre, for on my sister's return, she appeared with one +kitten and laid it down at Kate's feet; ran off, and in time came with +another which she left also, and so on until she had brought up the +whole household. Lucifer was one of them. + +"He was as black as an imp and as mischievous as one. His bounds have +always been tremendous: from the floor to the high mantel, or to the top +of a tall buffet close under the ceiling. And these bounds of his, +together with a way he has of gazing into space with his soulful and +enormous yellow eyes, have led to a thousand tales as to his nightly +journeyings among the stars; hurting his foot slumping through the +nebula in Andromeda; getting his supper at a place in the milky way, +hunting all night with Orion, and having awful fights with Sirius. He +got his throat cut by alighting on the North Pole one night, coming down +from the stars. The reason he slumps through the nebula is on account of +his big feet; he has six toes (like the foot in George Augustus Sala's +drawing) and when he walks on the top of the piazza you would think it +was a burglar. + +"Lucifer's Mephistophelian aspect is increased not only by those feet, +but by an arrow-pointed tail. He sucks his tail,--alas, and alas! In +vain have we peppered it, and pepper-sauced it, and dipped it in +Worcestershire sauce and in aloes, and done it up in curl papers, and +glued on it the fingers of old gloves. At last we gave it up in despair, +and I took him and put his tail in his mouth and told him to take his +pleasure,--and that is the reason, I suppose, that he attaches himself +particularly to me. He is very near-sighted with those magnificent orbs, +for he will jump into any one's lap, who wears a black gown, but jump +down instantly, and when he finds my lap curl down for a brief season. +But he is not much of a lap-loving cat. He puts up his nose and smells +my face all over in what he means for a caress, and is off. He is not a +large eater, although he has been known to help himself to a whole steak +at the table, being alone in the dining room; and when poultry are in +the larder he is insistent till satisfied. But he wants his breakfast +early. If the second girl, whose charge he is, does not rise in season, +he mounts two flights of stairs and seats himself on her chest until she +does rise. Then if she does not wait on him at once, he goes into the +drawing-room, and springs to the top of the upright piano, and +deliberately knocks off the bric-a-brac, particularly loving to +encounter and floor a brass dragon candlestick. Then he springs to the +mantel-shelf if he has not been seized and appeased, and repeats +operations, and has even carried his work of destruction around the room +to the top of a low bookcase and has proved himself altogether the wrong +sort of person in a china-shop. + +"However, it is conceded in the family that Phosphor is not a cat +merely: he is a person, and Lucifer is a spirit. Lucifer seldom purrs--I +wonder if that is a characteristic of black cats?" [No; my black cats +fairly roar.] "A little thread of sound, and only now and then, when +very happy and loving, a rich, full strain. But Phosphor purrs like a +windmill, like an electric car, like a tea-kettle, like a whole boiled +dinner. When Phosphor came, Lucifer, six weeks her senior (Phosphor's +excellencies always incline one to say 'she' of him), thought the little +live yellow ball was made only for him to play with, and he cuffed and +tossed him around for all he was worth, licked him all over twenty times +a day, and slept with his arms about him. During those early years +Phosphor never washed himself, Lucifer took such care of him, and they +were a lovely sight in each other's arms asleep. But of late years a +coolness has intervened, and now they never speak as they pass by. They +sometimes go fishing together, Lucifer walking off majestically alone, +always dark, mysterious, reticent, intent on his own affairs, making you +feel that he has a sort of lofty contempt for yours. Sometimes, the mice +depositing a dead fish in the crannies of the rocks, Lucifer appears +with it in the twilight, gleaming silver-white in his jaws, and the +great eyes gleaming like fire-balls above it. Phosphor is, however, a +mighty hunter: mice, rats by the score, chipmunks,--all is game that +comes to his net. He has cleaned out whole colonies of catbirds (for +their insolence), and eaten every golden robin on the island. + +"It used to be very pretty to see them, when they were little, as El +Mahdi, the peacock, spread his great tail, dart and spring upon it, and +go whirling round with it as El Mahdi, fairly frantic with the little +demons that had hold of him, went skipping and springing round and +round. But although so fierce a fighter, so inhospitable to every other +cat, Phosphor is the most affectionate little soul. He is still very +playful, though so large, and last summer to see him bounding on the +grass, playing with his tail, turning somersaults all by himself, was +quite worth while. When we first happened to go away in his early years +he wouldn't speak to us when we came back, he felt so neglected. I went +away for five months once, before Lucifer was more than a year old. He +got into no one's lap while I was gone, but the moment I sat down on my +return, he jumped into mine, saluted me, and curled himself down for a +nap, showing the plainest recognition. Now when one comes back, Phosphor +is wild with joy--always in a well-bred way. He will get into your arms +and on your shoulder and rub his face around, and before you know it his +little mouth is in the middle of your mouth as much like a kiss as +anything can be. Perhaps it isn't so well bred, but his motions are so +quick and perfect it seems so. When you let him in he curls into heaps +of joy, and fairly stands on his head sometimes. He is the most +responsive creature, always ready for a caress, and his wild, great +amber eyes beam love, if ever love had manifestation. His beauty is +really extraordinary; his tail a real wonder. Lucifer, I grieve to say, +looks very moth-eaten. Phosphor wore a bell for a short time once--a +little Inch-Cape Rock bell--but he left it to toll all winter in a tall +tree near the drawing-room window. + +"A charm of cats is that they seem to live in a world of their own, just +as much as if it were a real dimension of space; and speaking of a +fourth dimension, I am living in the expectation that the new +discoveries in the matter of radiant energy will presently be revealing +to all our senses the fact that there is no death. + +"We had some barn kittens once that lived in the hen-house, ate with the +hens, and quarrelled with them for any tidbit. They curled up in the egg +boxes and didn't move when the hens came to lay, and evidently had no +idea that they were not hens. + +"Oh, there is no end to the cat situation. It began with the old fellow +who put his hand under the cat to lift her up, and she arched her back +higher and higher until he found it was the serpent Asgard, and it won't +end with you and me. I don't know but she _is_ the serpent Asgard. +I don't know if you have hypnotized or magnetized me, but I am writing +as if I had known you intimately all my life, and feel as though I had. +It is the freemasonry of cats. I always said they were possessed of +spirits, and they use white magic to bring their friends together." + +Mrs. Spofford's "barn kittens" bring to mind an incident related by Mrs. +Wood, the beautiful wife of Professor C.G. Wood, of the Harvard Medical +School. At their summer place on Buzzard's Bay she has fifteen cats, +mostly Angoras, Persians, and coons, with several dogs. These cats +follow her all about the place in a regular troop, and a very handsome +troop they are, with their waving, plumy tails tipped gracefully over at +the ends as if saluting their superior officer. Among the dogs is a +spaniel named Gyp that is particularly friendly with the cats. There are +plenty of hens on the farm, and one spring a couple of bantams were +added to the stock. The cats immediately took a great fancy to these +diminutive bipeds, and watched them with the greatest interest. Finally +the little hen had a flock of chickens. As the weather was still cold, +the farmer put them upstairs in one of the barns, and every day Gyp +would take seven or eight of those cats up there to see the fluffy +little things. Dog and cats would seat themselves around the bantam and +her brood and watch them by the hour, never offering to touch the +chickens except when the little things were tired and went for a nap +under their mother's wings; and then some cat--first one and then +another--would softly poke its paw under the hen and stir up the family, +making them all run out in consternation, and keeping things lively once +more. The cats didn't dream of catching the chickens, only wanting, +evidently, that they should emulate Joey and keep moving on. + +A writer in the _London Spectator_ tells of a favorite bantam hen +with which the house cat has long been accustomed to play. This bantam +has increased and multiplied, and keeps her family in a "coop" on the +ground,--into which rats easily enter. At bedtime, however, pussy takes +up her residence there, and bantam, the brood of chickens, and pussy +sleep in happy harmony nightly. If any rats arrive, their experience +must be sad and sharp. Another writer in the same number tells of a cat +in Huddersfield, England, belonging to Canon Beardsley, who helps +himself to a reel of cotton from the work-basket, takes it on the floor, +and plays with it as long as he likes, and then jumps up and puts the +reel back in its place again; just as our Bobinette used to get his +tape-measure, although the latter never was known to put it away. + +Miss Sarah Orne Jewett is a cat-lover, too, and the dear old +countrywomen "down in Maine," with whom one gets acquainted through her +books, usually keep a cat also. Says she:-- + +"I look back over so long a line of family cats, from a certain poor +Spotty who died an awful death in a fit on the flagstones under the +library window when I was less than five years old, to a lawless, +fluffy, yellow and white coon cat now in my possession, that I find it +hard to single out the most interesting pussy of all. I shall have to +speak of two cats at least, one being the enemy and the other the friend +of my dog Joe. Joe and I grew up together and were fond companions, +until he died of far too early old age and left me to take my country +walks alone. + +"Polly, the enemy, was the best mouser of all: quite the best business +cat we ever had, with an astonishing intellect and a shrewd way of +gaining her ends. She caught birds and mice as if she foraged for our +whole family: she had an air of responsibility and a certain impatience +of interruption and interference such as I have never seen in any other +cat, and a scornful way of sitting before a person with fierce eyes and +a quick, ominous twitching of her tail. She seemed to be measuring one's +incompetence as a mouse-catcher in these moments, or to be saying to +herself, 'What a clumsy, stupid person; how little she knows, and how I +should like to scratch her and hear her squeak.' I sometimes felt as if +I were a larger sort of helpless mouse in these moments, but sometimes +Polly would be more friendly, and even jump into our laps, when it was a +pleasure to pat her hard little head with its exquisitely soft, dark +tortoise-shell fur. No matter if she almost always turned and caught the +caressing hand with teeth and claws, when she was tired of its touch, +you would always be ready to pat her next time; there was such a +fascination about her that any attention on her part gave a thrill of +pride and pleasure. Every guest and stranger admired her and tried to +win her favor: while we of the household hid our wounds and delighted in +her cleverness and beauty. + +"Polly was but a small cat to have a mind. She looked quite round and +kittenish as she sat before the fire in a rare moment of leisure, with +her black paws tucked under her white breast and her sleek back looking +as if it caught flickers of firelight in some yellow streaks among the +shiny black fur. But when she walked abroad she stretched out long and +thin like a little tiger, and held her head high to look over the grass +as if she were threading the jungle. She lashed her tail to and fro, and +one turned out of her way instantly. You opened a door for her if she +crossed the room and gave you a look. She made you know what she meant +as if she had the gift of speech: at most inconvenient moments you would +go out through the house to find her a bit of fish or to open the cellar +door. You recognized her right to appear at night on your bed with one +of her long-suffering kittens, which she had brought in the rain, out of +a cellar window and up a lofty ladder, over the wet, steep roofs and +down through a scuttle into the garret, and still down into warm +shelter. Here she would leave it and with one or two loud, admonishing +purrs would scurry away upon some errand that must have been like one of +the border frays of old. + +"She used to treat Joe, the dog, with sad cruelty, giving him a sharp +blow on his honest nose that made him meekly stand back and see her add +his supper to her own. A child visitor once rightly complained that +Polly had pins in her toes, and nobody knew this better than poor Joe. +At last, in despair, he sought revenge. I was writing at my desk one +day, when he suddenly appeared, grinning in a funny way he had, and +wagging his tail, until he enticed me out to the kitchen. There I found +Polly, who had an air of calling everything in the house her own. She +was on the cook's table, gobbling away at some chickens which were being +made ready for the oven and had been left unguarded. I caught her and +cuffed her, and she fled through the garden door, for once tamed and +vanquished, though usually she was so quick that nobody could administer +justice upon these depredations of a well-fed cat. Then I turned and saw +poor old Joe dancing about the kitchen in perfect delight. He had been +afraid to touch Polly himself, but he knew the difference between right +and wrong, and had called me to see what a wicked cat she was, and to +give him the joy of looking on at the flogging. + +"It was the same dog who used sometimes to be found under a table where +his master had sent him for punishment in his young days of lawless +puppy-hood for chasing the neighbor's chickens. These faults had long +been overcome, but sometimes, in later years, Joe's conscience would +trouble him, we never knew why, and he would go under the table of his +own accord, and look repentant and crestfallen until some forgiving and +sympathetic friend would think he had suffered enough and bid him come +out to be patted and consoled. + +"After such a house-mate as Polly, Joe had great amends in our next cat, +yellow Danny, the most amiable and friendly pussy that ever walked on +four paws. He took Danny to his heart at once: they used to lie in the +sun together with Danny's head on the dog's big paws, and I sometimes +used to meet them walking as coy as lovers, side by side, up one of the +garden walks. When I could not help laughing at their sentimental and +conscious air, they would turn aside into the bushes for shelter. They +respected each other's suppers, and ate together on the kitchen hearth, +and took great comfort in close companionship. Danny always answered if +you spoke to him, but he made no sound while always opening his mouth +wide to mew whenever he had anything to say, and looking up into your +face with all his heart expressed. These affectations of speech were +most amusing, especially in so large a person as yellow Danny. He was +much beloved by me and by all his family, especially poor Joe, who must +sometimes have had the worst of dreams about old Polly, and her sharp, +unsparing claws." + +Miss Mary E. Wilkins is also a great admirer of cats. "I adore cats," +she says. "I don't love them as well as dogs, because my own nature is +more after the lines of a dog's; but I adore them. No matter how tired +or wretched I am, a pussy-cat sitting in a doorway can divert my mind. +Cats love one so much: more than they will allow; but they have so much +wisdom they keep it to themselves." + +Miss Wilkins's "Augustus" was moved with her from Brattleboro, Vt., +after her father's death and when she went to Randolph, Mass., to live. +He had been the pet of the family for a long time, but he came to an +untimely end. + +"I hope," says Miss Wilkins, "people's unintentional cruelty will not be +remembered against them." Since living in Randolph she has had two +lovely yellow and white cats, "Punch and Judy." The latter was shot by a +neighbor, but Punch, the right-hand cat with the angelic expression, +still survives. + +"I am quite sure," says his mistress, "he loves me better than anybody +else, although he is so very close about it. Punch Wilkins has one +accomplishment. He can open a door with an old-fashioned latch: but he +cannot shut it." + +Louise Imogen Guiney is famous for her love and good comradeship with +dogs, especially her setters and St. Bernards, but she is too thoroughly +a poet not to be captivated by the grace and beauty of a cat. + +"I love the unsubmissive race," she says, "and have had much edification +out of the charming friendships between our St. Bernards and our cats. +Annie Clarke [the actress] once gave me two exquisite Angoras, little +persons of character equal to their looks; but they died young and we +have not since had the heart to replace them. I once had another coon, a +small, spry, gray fellow named Scot, the tamest and most endearing of +pets, always on your shoulder and a' that, who suddenly, on no +provocation whatever, turned wild, lived for a year or more in the woods +next our garden, hunting and fishing, although ceaselessly chased, and +called, and implored to revisit his afflicted family. He associated +sometimes with the neighbor's cat, but never, never more with humanity, +until finally we found his pathetic little frozen body one Christmas +near the barn. Do you remember Arnold's Scholar Gypsy? Our Scot was his +feline equivalent.... Have you counted in Prosper Merimee among the +confirmed lovers of cats? I remember a delightful little paragraph out +of one of his letters about _un vieux chat noir, parfaitement laid, +mais plein d'esprit et de discretion. Seulement il n'a eu que des gens +vulgaires et manque d'usage._" + +Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney, who has written so many helpful stories for girls, +is another lover of cats. Cats do not lie curled up on cushions +everywhere in her books, as they do in Mrs. Spofford's. But in "Zerub +Throop's Experiment" there is an amusing cat story, which, she declares, +got so much mixed up with a ghost story that nobody ever knew which was +which. And the incident is true in every particular, except the finding +of a will or codicil, or something at the end, which is attached for +purposes of fiction. + +A great deal has been written about the New York _Sun's_ famous +cats. At my request, Mr. Dana furnished the following description of the +interesting _Sun_ family. I can only vouch for its veracity by +quoting the famous phrase, "If you see it in the _Sun_, it is so." + +"_Sun_ office cat (_Felis Domestica; var. Journalistica_). +This is a variation of the common domestic cat, of which but one family +is known to science. The habitat of the species is in Newspaper Row; its +lair is in the _Sun_ building, its habits are nocturnal, and it +feeds on discarded copy and anything else of a pseudo-literary nature +upon which it can pounce. In dull times it can subsist upon a meagre +diet of telegraphic brevities, police court paragraphs, and city +jottings; but when the universe is agog with news, it will exhibit the +insatiable appetite which is its chief distinguishing mark of difference +from the common _felis domestica_. A single member of this family +has been known, on a 'rush' night, to devour three and a half columns of +presidential possibilities, seven columns of general politics, pretty +much all but the head of a large and able-bodied railroad accident, and +a full page of miscellaneous news, and then claw the nether garments of +the managing editor, and call attention to an appetite still in good +working order. + +"The progenitrix of the family arrived in the _Sun_ office many +years ago, and installed herself in a comfortable corner, and within a +few short months she had noticeably raised the literary tone of the +paper, as well as a large and vociferous family of kittens. These +kittens were weaned on reports from country correspondents, and the +sight of the six children and the mother cat sitting in a semicircle was +one which attracted visitors from all parts of the nation. Just before +her death--immediately before, in fact--the mother cat developed a +literary taste of her own and drank the contents of an ink-bottle. She +was buried with literary honors, and one of her progeny was advanced to +the duties and honors of office cat. From this time the line came down, +each cat taking the 'laurel greener from the brows of him that uttered +nothing base,' upon the death of his predecessor. There is but one blot +upon the escutcheon of the family, put there by a recent incumbent who +developed a mania at once cannibalistic and infanticidal, and set about +making a free lunch of her offspring, in direct violation of the Raines +law and the maternal instinct. She died of an overdose of chloroform, +and her place was taken by one of the rescued kittens. + +"It is the son of this kitten who is the present proud incumbent of the +office. Grown to cat-hood, he is a creditable specimen of his family, +with beryl eyes, beautiful striped fur, showing fine mottlings of +mucilage and ink, a graceful and aspiring tail, an appetite for copy +unsurpassed in the annals of his race, and a power and perseverance in +vocality, chiefly exercised in the small hours of the morning, that, +together with the appetite referred to, have earned for him the name of +the Mutilator. The picture herewith given was taken when the animal was +a year and a half old. Up to the age of one year the Mutilator made its +lair in the inside office with the Snake Editor, until a tragic ending +came to their friendship. During a fortnight's absence of the office cat +upon important business, the Snake Editor cultivated the friendship of +three cockroaches, whom he debauched by teaching them to drink beer +spilled upon his desk for that purpose. On the night of the cat's +return, the three bugs had become disgracefully intoxicated, and were +reeling around the desk beating time with their legs to a rollicking +catch sung by the Snake Editor. Before the muddled insects could crawl +into a crack, the Mutilator was upon them, and had bolted every one. +Then with a look of reproach at the Snake Editor, he drew three +perpendicular red lines across that gentleman's features with his claws +and departed in high scorn, nor could he ever thereafter be lured into +the inner office where the serpent-sharp was laying for him with a space +measure. Since that time he has lived in the room occupied by the +reporters and news editors. + +"Many hundreds of stories, some of them slanderous have been told about +the various _Sun_ office cats, but we have admitted here none of +these false tales. The short sketch given here is beyond suspicion in +all its details, as can be vouched for by many men of high position who +ought to know better." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + + +The nearest approach to the real French Salon in America is said to be +found in Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton's Boston drawing-room. In former +days, at her weekly Fridays, Sir Richard Coeur de Lion was always +present, sitting on the square piano amidst a lot of other celebrities. +The autographed photographs of Paderewski, John Drew, and distinguished +litterateurs, however, used to lose nothing from the proximity of Mrs. +Moulton's favorite maltese friend, who was on the most intimate terms +with her for twelve years, and hobnobbed familiarly with most of the +lions of one sort or another who have visited Boston and who invariably +find their way into this room. If there were flowers on the piano, +Richard's nose hovered near them in a perfect abandon of delight. +Indeed, his fondness for flowers was a source of constant contention +between him and his mistress, who feared lest he knock the souvenirs of +foreign countries to the floor in his eagerness to climb wherever +flowers were put. He was as dainty about his eating as in his taste for +the beautiful, scorning beef and mutton as fit only for coarser mortals, +and choosing, like any _gourmet_, to eat only the breast of +chicken, or certain portions of fish or lobster. He was not proof +against the flavor of liver, at any time; but recognized in it his one +weakness,--as the delicate lady may who takes snuff or chews gum on the +sly. When Mrs. Moulton first had him, she had also a little dog, and the +two, as usual when a kitten is brought up with a dog, became the +greatest of friends. + +That Richard was a close observer was proved by the way he used to wag +his tail, in the same fashion and apparently for the same reasons as the +dog. This went on for several years, but when the dog died, the fashion +of wagging tails went out, so far as Richard Coeur de Lion was +concerned. + +He had a fashion of getting up on mantels, the tops of bookcases, or on +shelves; and his mistress, fearing demolition of her household Lares and +Penates, insisted on his getting down, whereupon Richard would look +reproachfully at her, apparently resenting this treatment for days +afterward, refusing to come near her and edging off if she tried to make +up with him. + +When Richard was getting old, a black cat came to Mrs. Moulton, who kept +him "for luck," and named him the Black Prince. The older cat was always +jealous of the newcomer, and treated him with lofty scorn. When he +caught Mrs. Moulton petting the Black Prince, who is a very affectionate +fellow Richard fiercely resented it and sometimes refused to have +anything to do with her for days afterward, but finally came around and +made up in shamefaced fashion. + +Mrs. Moulton goes to London usually in the summer, leaving the cats in +the care of a faithful maid whom she has had for years. After she +sailed, Richard used to come to her door for several mornings, and not +being let in as usual, understood that his beloved mistress had left him +again, whereupon he kept up a prolonged wailing for some time. He was +correspondingly glad to see her on her return in October. + +Mrs. Moulton tells the following remarkable cat story:-- + +"My mother had a cat that lived to be twenty-five years old. He was +faithful and fond, and a great pet in the family, of course. About two +years before his death, a new kitten was added to the family. This +kitten, named Jim, immediately conceived the greatest affection for old +Jack, and as the old fellow's senses of sight and smell failed so that +he could not go hunting himself, Jim used to do it for both. Every day +he brought Jack mice and squirrels and other game as long as he lived. +Then, too, he used to wash Jack, lapping him all over as a mother cat +does her kitten. He did this, too, as long as he lived. The feebler old +Jack grew the more Jim did for him, and when Jack finally died of old +age, Jim was inconsolable." + +Twenty-five years might certainly be termed a ripe old age for a cat, +their average life extending only to ten or twelve years. But I have +heard of one who seems to have attained even greater age. The mother of +Jane Andrews, the writer on educational and juvenile subjects, had one +who lived with them twenty-four years. He had peculiar markings and +certain ways of his own about the house quite different from other cats. +He disappeared one day when he was twenty-four, and was mourned as dead. +But one day, some six or seven years later, an old cat came to their +door and asked to be let in. He had the same markings, and on being let +in, went directly to his favorite sleeping-places and lay down. He +seemed perfectly familiar with the whole place, and went on with his +life from that time, just as though he had never been away, showing all +his old peculiarities. When he finally died, he must have been +thirty-three years old. + +Although in other days a great many noted men have been devoted to cats, +I do not find that our men of letters to-day know so much about cats. +Mr. William Dean Howells says: "I never had a cat, pet or otherwise. I +like them, but know nothing of them." Judge Robert Grant says, "My +feelings toward cats are kindly and considerate, but not ardent." + +Thomas Bailey Aldrich says, "The only cat I ever had any experience with +was the one I translated from the French of Emile de La Bedollierre many +years ago for the entertainment of my children." [Footnote: "Mother +Michel's Cat."] Brander Matthews loves them not. George W. Cable answers, +when asked if he loves the "harmless, necessary cat," by the Yankee method, +and says, "If you had three or four acres of beautiful woods in which were +little red squirrels and chipmunks and fifty or more kinds of nesting +birds, and every abutting neighbor kept a cat, and none of them kept their +cat out of those woods--_would you like cats?_" which is, indeed, +something of a poser. + +Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, however, confesses to a great fondness for +cats, although he has had no remarkable cats of his own. He tells a +story told him by an old sailor at Pigeon Cove, Mass., of a cat which +he, the sailor, tried in vain to get rid of. After trying several +methods he finally put the cat in a bag, walked a mile to Lane's Cove, +tied the cat to a big stone with a firm sailor's knot, took it out in a +dory some distance from the shore, and dropped the cat overboard. Then +he went back home to find the cat purring on the doorstep. + +Those who are familiar with Charles Dudley Warner's "My Summer in a +Garden" will not need to be reminded of Calvin and his interesting +traits. Mr. Warner says: "I never had but one cat, and he was rather a +friend and companion than a cat. When he departed this life I did not +care to do as many men do when their partners die, take a 'second.'" The +sketch of him in that delightful book is vouched for as correct. + +Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman, too, is a genuine admirer of cats and +evidently knows how to appreciate them at their true value. At his home +near New York, he and Mrs. Stedman have one who rejoices in the name +"Babylon," having originated in Babylon, Long Island. He is a fine large +maltese, and attracted a great deal of attention at the New York Cat +Show in 1895. "We look upon him as an important member of our family," +says Mrs. Stedman, "and think he knows as much as any of us. He despises +our two other cats, but he is very fond of human beings and makes +friends readily with strangers. He is always present at the family +dinner table at meal-time and expects to have his share handed to him +carefully. He has a favorite corner in the study and has superintended a +great deal of literary work." Mrs. Stedman's long-haired, blue Kelpie +took a prize in the show of '95. + +Gail Hamilton was naturally a lover of cats, although in her crowded +life there was not much time to devote to them. In the last year of her +noble life she wrote to a friend as follows: "My two hands were eager to +lighten the burden-bearing of a burdened world--but the brush fell from +my hand. Now I can only sit in a nook of November sunshine, playing with +two little black and white kittens. Well, I never before had time to +play with kittens as much as I wished, and when I come outdoors and see +them bounding toward me in long, light leaps, I am glad that they leap +toward me and not away from me, little soft, fierce sparks of infinite +energy holding a mystery of their own as inscrutable as life. And I +remember that with all our high art, the common daily sun searches a man +for one revealing moment, and makes a truer portrait than the most +laborious painter. The divine face of our Saviour, reflected in the pure +and noble traits of humanity, will not fail from the earth because my +hand has failed in cunning." + +One would expect a poet of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's temperament to be +passionately fond of cats, just as she is. One would expect, too, that +only the most beautiful and luxurious of Persians and Angoras would +satisfy her demand for a pet. This is also justifiable, as she has +several magnificent cats, about whom she has published a number of +interesting stories. Her Madame Ref is quite a noted cat, but Mrs. +Wilcox's favorite and the handsomest of all is named Banjo, a gorgeous +chinchilla and white Angora, with a silken coat that almost touches the +floor and a ruff, or "lord mayor's chain," that is a finger wide. His +father was Ajax, his mother was Madame Ref, and Mrs. Wilcox raised him. +She has taught him many cunning tricks. He will sit up like a bear, and +when his mistress says, "Hug me, Banjo," he puts both white paws around +her neck and hugs her tight. Then she says, "Turn the other cheek," and +he turns his furry chops for her to kiss. He also plays "dead," and +rolls over at command. He, too, is fond of literary work, and +superintends his mistress's writing from a drawer of her desk. Goody +Two-eyes is another of Mrs. Wilcox's pets, and has one blue and one +topaz eye. + +Who has not read Agnes Repplier's fascinating essays on "Agrippina" and +"A Kitten"? I cannot quite believe she gives cats credit for the +capacity for affection which they really possess, but her description of +"Agrippina" is charming:-- + +"Agrippina's beautifully ringed tail flapping across my copy distracts +my attention and imperils the neatness of my penmanship. Even when she +is disposed to be affable, turns the light of her countenance upon me, +watches with attentive curiosity every stroke I make, and softly, with +curved paw, pats my pen as it travels over the paper, even in these +halcyon moments, though my self-love is flattered by her condescension, +I am aware that I should work better and more rapidly if I denied myself +this charming companionship. But, in truth, it is impossible for a lover +of cats to banish these alert, gentle, and discriminating little +friends, who give us just enough of their regard and complaisance to +make us hunger for more. M. Fee, the naturalist, who has written so +admirably about animals, and who understands, as only a Frenchman can +understand, the delicate and subtle organization of a cat, frankly +admits that the keynote of its character is independence. It dwells +under our roofs, sleeps by our fire, endures our blandishments, and +apparently enjoys our society, without for one moment forfeiting its +sense of absolute freedom, without acknowledging any servile relation to +the human creature who shelters it. + +"Rude and masterful souls resent this fine self-sufficiency in a +domestic animal, and require that it shall have no will but theirs, no +pleasure that does not emanate from them. + +"Yet there are people, less magisterial, perhaps, or less exacting, who +believe that true friendship, even with an animal, may be built up on +mutual esteem and independence; that to demand gratitude is to be +unworthy of it; and that obedience is not essential to agreeable and +healthy intercourse. A man who owns a dog is, in every sense of the +word, its master: the term expresses accurately their mutual relations. +But it is ridiculous when applied to the limited possession of a cat. I +am certainly not Agrippina's mistress, and the assumption of authority +on my part would be a mere empty dignity, like those swelling titles +which afford such innocent delight to the Freemasons of our severe +republic. + +"How many times have I rested tired eyes on her graceful little body, +curled up in a ball and wrapped round with her tail like a parcel; or +stretched out luxuriously on my bed, one paw coyly covering her face, +the other curved gently inwards, as though clasping an invisible +treasure. Asleep or awake, in rest or in motion, grave or gay, Agrippina +is always beautiful; and it is better to be beautiful than to fetch and +carry from the rising to the setting of the sun. + +"But when Agrippina has breakfasted and washed, and sits in the sunlight +blinking at me with affectionate contempt, I feel soothed by her +absolute and unqualified enjoyment. I know how full my day will be of +things that I don't want particularly to do, and that are not +particularly worth doing; but for her, time and the world hold only this +brief moment of contentment. Slowly the eyes close, gently the little +body is relaxed. Oh, you who strive to relieve your overwrought nerves +and cultivate power through repose, watch the exquisite languor of a +drowsy cat, and despair of imitating such perfect and restful grace. +There is a gradual yielding of every muscle to the soft persuasiveness +of slumber: the flexible frame is curved into tender lines, the head +nestles lower, the paws are tucked out of sight: no convulsive throb or +start betrays a rebellious alertness: only a faint quiver of unconscious +satisfaction, a faint heaving of the tawny sides, a faint gleam of the +half-shut yellow eyes, and Agrippina is asleep. I look at her for one +wistful moment and then turn resolutely to my work. It were ignoble to +wish myself in her place: and yet how charming to be able to settle down +to a nap, _sans peur et sans reproche_, at ten o'clock in the +morning." + +And again: "When I am told that Agrippina is disobedient, ungrateful, +cold-hearted, perverse, stupid, treacherous, and cruel, I no longer +strive to check the torrent of abuse. I know that Buffon said all this, +and much more, about cats, and that people have gone on repeating it +ever since, principally because these spirited little beasts have +remained just what it pleased Providence to make them, have preserved +their primitive freedom through centuries of effete and demoralizing +civilization. Why, I wonder, should a great many good men and women +cherish an unreasonable grudge against one animal because it does not +chance to possess the precise qualities of another? 'My dog fetches my +slippers for me every night,' said a friend, triumphantly, not long ago. +'He puts them first to warm by the fire, and then brings them over to my +chair, wagging his tail, and as proud as Punch. Would your cat do as +much for you, I'd like to know?' Assuredly not. If I waited for +Agrippina to fetch me shoes or slippers, I should have no other resource +save to join as speedily as possible one of the barefooted religious +orders of Italy. But after all, fetching slippers is not the whole duty +of domestic pets. + +"As for curiosity, that vice which the Abbe Galiani held to be unknown +to animals, but which the more astute Voltaire detected in every little +dog that he saw peering out of the window of its master's coach, it is +the ruling passion of the feline breast. A closet door left ajar, a box +with half-closed lid, an open bureau drawer,--these are the objects that +fill a cat with the liveliest interest and delight. Agrippina watches +breathlessly the unfastening of a parcel, and tries to hasten matters by +clutching actively at the string. When its contents are shown to her, +she examines them gravely, and then, with a sigh of relief, settles down +to repose. The slightest noise disturbs and irritates her until she +discovers its cause. If she hears a footstep in the hall, she runs out +to see whose it is, and, like certain troublesome little people I have +known, she dearly loves to go to the front door every time the bell is +rung. From my window she surveys the street with tranquil scrutiny, and +if the boys are playing below, she follows their games with a steady, +scornful stare, very different from the wistful eagerness of a friendly +dog, quivering to join in the sport. Sometimes the boys catch sight of +her, and shout up rudely at her window; and I can never sufficiently +admire Agrippina's conduct upon these trying occasions, the well-bred +composure with which she affects neither to see nor to hear them, nor to +be aware that there are such objectionable creatures as children in the +world. Sometimes, too, the terrier that lives next door comes out to sun +himself in the street, and, beholding my cat sitting well out of reach, +he dances madly up and down the pavement, barking with all his might, +and rearing himself on his short legs, in a futile attempt to dislodge +her. Then the spirit of evil enters Agrippina's little heart. The window +is open and she creeps to the extreme edge of the stone sill, stretches +herself at full length, peers down smilingly at the frenzied dog, +dangles one paw enticingly in the air, and exerts herself with quiet +malice to drive him to desperation. Her sense of humor is awakened by +his frantic efforts and by her own absolute security; and not until he +is spent with exertion, and lies panting and exhausted on the bricks, +does she arch her graceful back, stretch her limbs lazily in the sun, +and with one light bound spring from the window to my desk." + +And what more delightful word did ever Miss Repplier write than her +description of a kitten? It, she says, "is the most irresistible +comedian in the world. Its wide-open eyes gleam with wonder and mirth. +It darts madly at nothing at all, and then, as though suddenly checked +in the pursuit, prances sideways on its hind legs with ridiculous +agility and zeal. It makes a vast pretence of climbing the rounds of a +chair, and swings by the curtains like an acrobat. It scrambles up a +table leg, and is seized with comic horror at finding itself full two +feet from the floor. If you hasten to its rescue, it clutches you +nervously, its little heart thumping against its furry sides, while its +soft paws expand and contract with agitation and relief:-- + + "'And all their harmless claws disclose, + Like prickles of an early rose.' + + +"Yet the instant it is back on the carpet it feigns to be suspicious of +your interference, peers at you out of 'the tail o' its e'e,' and +scampers for protection under the sofa, from which asylum it presently +emerges with cautious, trailing steps as though encompassed by fearful +dangers and alarms." + +Nobody can sympathize with her in the following description better than +I, who for years was compelled by the insistence of my Pretty Lady to +aid in the bringing up of infants:-- + +"I own that when Agrippina brought her first-born son--aged two +days--and established him in my bedroom closet, the plan struck me at +the start as inconvenient. I had prepared another nursery for the little +Claudius Nero, and I endeavored for a while to convince his mother that +my arrangements were best. But Agrippina was inflexible. The closet +suited her in every respect; and, with charming and irresistible +flattery, she gave me to understand, in the mute language I knew so +well, that she wished her baby boy to be under my immediate protection. + +"'I bring him to you because I trust you,' she said as plainly as looks +can speak. 'Downstairs they handle him all the time, and it is not good +for kittens to be handled. Here he is safe from harm, and here he shall +remain,' After a few weak remonstrances, the futility of which I too +clearly understood, her persistence carried the day. I removed my +clothing from the closet, spread a shawl upon the floor, had the door +taken from its hinges, and resigned myself, for the first time in my +life, to the daily and hourly companionship of an infant. + +"I was amply rewarded. People who require the household cat to rear her +offspring in some remote attic or dark corner of the cellar have no idea +of all the diversion and pleasure that they lose. It is delightful to +watch the little, blind, sprawling, feeble, helpless things develop +swiftly into the grace and agility of kittenhood. It is delightful to +see the mingled pride and anxiety of the mother, whose parental love +increases with every hour of care, and who exhibits her young family as +if they were infant Gracchi, the hope of all their race. During Nero's +extreme youth, there were times when Agrippina wearied both of his +companionship and of her own maternal duties. Once or twice she +abandoned him at night for the greater luxury of my bed, where she slept +tranquilly by my side, unmindful of the little wailing cries with which +Nero lamented her desertion. Once or twice the heat of early summer +tempted her to spend the evening on the porch roof which lay beneath my +windows, and I have passed some anxious hours awaiting her return, and +wondering what would happen if she never came back, and I were left to +bring up the baby by hand. + +"But as the days sped on, and Nero grew rapidly in beauty and +intelligence, Agrippina's affection for him knew no bounds. She could +hardly bear to leave him even for a little while, and always came +hurrying back to him with a loud, frightened mew, as if fearing he might +have been stolen in her absence. At night she purred over him for hours, +or made little gurgling noises expressive of ineffable content. She +resented the careless curiosity of strangers, and was a trifle +supercilious when the cook stole softly in to give vent to her fervent +admiration. But from first to last she shared with me her pride and +pleasure; and the joy in her beautiful eyes, as she raised them to mine, +was frankly confiding and sympathetic. When the infant Claudius rolled +for the first time over the ledge of the closet and lay sprawling on the +bedroom floor, it would have been hard to say which of us was the more +elated at his prowess." + +What became of these most interesting cats, is only hinted at; Miss +Repplier's sincere grief at their loss is evident in the following:-- + +"Every night they retired at the same time and slept upon the same +cushion, curled up inextricably into one soft, furry ball. Many times I +have knelt by their chair to bid them both good night; and always when I +did so, Agrippina would lift her charming head, purr drowsily for a few +seconds, and then nestle closer still to her first-born, with sighs of +supreme satisfaction. The zenith of her life had been reached. Her cup +of contentment was full. + +"It is a rude world, even for little cats, and evil chances lie in wait +for the petted creatures we strive to shield from harm. Remembering the +pangs of separation, the possibilities of unkindness or neglect, the +troubles that hide in ambush on every unturned page, I am sometimes glad +that the same cruel and selfish blow struck both mother and son, and +that they lie together, safe from hurt or hazard, sleeping tranquilly +and always, under the shadow of the friendly pines." + +Probably no modern cat has been more written about than Miss Mary L. +Booth's Muff. There was a "Tippet," but he was early lost. Miss Booth, +as the editor of _Harper's Bazar_, was the centre of a large circle +of literary and musical people. Her Saturday evenings were to New York +what Mrs. Moulton's Fridays are to Boston, the nearest approach to the +French salon possible in America. At these Saturday evenings Muff always +figured prominently, being dressed in a real lace collar (brought him +from Yucatan by Madame la Plongeon, and elaborate and expensive enough +for the most fastidious lady), and apparently enjoying the company of +noted intellectual people as well as the best of them. And who knows, if +he had spoken, what light he might have shed on what seemed to mere +mortals as mysterious, abstruse, and occult problems? Perhaps, after +all, he liked that "salon" because in reality he found so much to amuse +him in the conversation; and perhaps he was, under that guise of +friendly interest in noted scientists, reformers, poets, musicians, and +litterateurs, only whispering to himself, "O Lord, what fools these +mortals be!" + +"For when I play with my cat," says Montaigne, "how do I know whether +she does not make a jest of me?" + +But Muff was a real nobleman among cats, and extraordinarily handsome. +He was a great soft gray maltese with white paws and breast--mild, +amiable, and uncommonly intelligent. He felt it his duty to help +entertain Miss Booth's guests, always; and he more than once, at the +beginning of a reception, came into the drawing-room with a mouse in his +mouth as his offering to the occasion. Naturally enough "he caused the +stampede," as Mrs. Spofford puts it, "that Mr. Gilbert forgot to put +into 'Princess Ida' when her Amazons wild demonstrate their courage." + +As one of Miss Booth's intimate friends, Mrs. Spofford was much at her +house and became early a devoted admirer of Muff's. + +"His latter days," she says, "were rendered miserable by a little silky, +gray creature, an Angora named Vashti, who was a spark of the fire of +the lower regions wrapped round in long silky fur, and who never let him +alone one moment: who was full of tail-lashings and racings and leapings +and fury, and of the most demonstrative love for her mistress. Once I +made them collars with breastplates of tiny dangling bells, nine or ten; +it excited them nearly to madness, and they flew up and down stairs like +unchained lightning till the trinkets were taken off." + +In a house full of birds Muff never touched one, although he was an +excellent mouser (who says cats have no conscience?). He was, although +so socially inclined toward his mistress's guests, a timid person, and +the wild back-yard cats filled him with terror. + +"But as one must see something of the world," continues Mrs. Spofford, +"he used to jump from lintel to lintel of the windows of the block, if +by chance his own were left open, and return when he pleased." + +Muff died soon after the death of Miss Booth. Vashti, who was very much +admired by all her mistress's literary friends, was given to Miss Juliet +Corson. + +Miss Edna Dean Proctor, the poet, is another admirer of fine cats. Her +favorite, however, was the friend of her childhood called Beauty. + +"Beauty was my grandmother's cat," says Miss Proctor, "and the delight +of my childhood. To this far-off day I remember her as distinctly as I +do my aunt and cousins of that household, and even my dear grandmother +herself. I know nothing of her ancestry and am not at all sure that she +was royally bred, for she came, one chill night, a little wanderer to +the door. But a shred of blue ribbon was clinging to her neck, and she +was so pretty, and silky, and winsome that we children at once called +her Beauty, and fancied she had strayed from some elegant home where she +had been the pet of the household, lapping her milk from finest china +and sleeping on a cushion of down. When we had warmed, and fed, and +caressed her, we made her bed in a flannel-lined box among our dolls, +and the next morning were up before the sun to see her, fearing her +owners would appear and carry her away. But no one arrived to claim her, +and she soon became an important member of the family, and grew +handsomer, we thought, day by day. Her coat was gray with tiger +markings, but paws and throat and nose were snowy white, and in spite of +her excursions to barns and cellars her constant care kept them +spotless--indeed, she was the very Venus of cats for daintiness and +grace of pose and movement. To my grandmother her various attitudes had +an undoubted meaning. If in a rainy day Beauty washed her face toward +the west, her observant mistress would exclaim: 'See, kitty is washing +her face to the west. It will clear.' Or, even when the sky was blue, if +Beauty turned eastward for her toilet, the comment would be: 'Kitty is +washing her face to the east. The wind must be getting "out" (from the +sea), and a storm brewing.' And when in the dusk of autumn or winter +evenings Beauty ran about the room, chasing her tail or frolicking with +her kittens instead of sleeping quietly by the fire as was her wont, my +grandmother would look up and say: 'Kitty is wild to-night. The wind +will blow hard before morning.' If I sometimes asked how she knew these +things, the reply would be, 'My mother told me when I was a little +girl.' Now her mother, my great-grandmother, was a distinguished +personage in my eyes, having been the daughter of Captain Jonathan +Prescott who commanded a company under Sir William Pepperell at the +siege of Louisburg and lost his life there; and I could not question the +wisdom of colonial times. Indeed, to this hour I have a lingering belief +that cats can foretell the weather. + +"And what a mouser she was! Before her time we often heard the rats and +mice in the walls, but with her presence not one dared to peep, and +cupboard and pantry were unmolested. Now and then she carried her forays +to hedge and orchard, and I remember one sad summer twilight that saw +her bring in a slender brown bird which my grandmother said was the +cuckoo we had delighted to hear in the still mornings among the alders +by the river. She was scolded and had no milk that night, and we never +knew her to catch a bird again. + +"O to see her with her kittens! She always hid them in the haymows, and +hunting and finding them brought us no end of excitement and pleasure. +Twice a day, at least, she would come to the house to be fed, and then +how we watched her returning steps, stealing cautiously along the path +and waiting behind stack or door the better to observe her--for pussy +knew perfectly well that we were eager to see her darlings, and enjoyed +misleading and piquing us, we imagined, by taking devious ways. How well +I recall that summer afternoon when, soft-footed and alone, I followed +her to the floor of the barn. Just as she was about to spring to the mow +she espied me, and, turning back, cunningly settled herself as if for a +quiet nap in the sunny open door. Determined not to lose sight of her, I +threw myself upon the fragrant hay; but in the stillness, the faint +sighing of the wind, the far-off ripple of the river, the hazy outline +of the hills, the wheeling swallows overhead, were blended at length in +an indistinct dream, and I slept, oblivious of all. When I woke, pussy +had disappeared, the sun was setting, the cows were coming from the +pastures, and I could only return to the house discomfited. That +particular family of kittens we never saw till a fortnight later, when +the proud mother brought them in one by one, and laid them at my +grandmother's feet. + +"What became of Beauty is as mysterious as the fate of the Dauphin. To +our grief, she disappeared one November day, and we never saw her more. +Sometimes we fancied she had been carried off by an admiring traveller: +at others we tortured ourselves with the belief that the traditional +wildcat of the north woods had devoured her. All we knew was that she +had vanished; but when memory pictures that pleasant country home and +the dear circle there, white-throated Beauty is always sleeping by the +fire." + +Miss Fidelia Bridges, the artist, is another devoted cat lover, and at +her home at Canaan, Ct., has had several interesting specimens. + +"Among my many generations of pet cats," says Miss Bridges, "one +aristocratic maltese lady stands out in prominence before all the rest. +She was a cat of great personal beauty and independence of character--a +remarkable huntress, bringing in game almost as large as herself, +holding her beautiful head aloft to keep the great wings of pigeons from +trailing on the ground. She and her mother were fast friends from birth +to death. When the young maltese had her first brood of kittens, her +mother had also a family in another barrel in the cellar. When we went +to see the just-arrived family, we found our Lady Malty's bed empty, and +there in her mother's barrel were both families and both mothers. A +delightful arrangement for the young mother, who could leave her +children in the grandmother's care and enjoy her liberty when it pleased +her to roam abroad. The young lady had an indomitable will, and when she +decided to do a thing nothing would turn her aside. She found a favorite +resting-place on a pile of blankets in a dark attic room. This being +disapproved of by the elders, the door was kept carefully closed. She +then found entrance through a stove-pipe hole, high up on the wall of an +adjoining room. A cover was hung over the hole. She sprang up and +knocked it off. Then, as a last resort, the hole was papered over like +the wall-paper of the room. She looked, made a leap, and crashed through +the paper with as merry an air as a circus-rider through his papered +hoop. She had a habit of manoeuvring to be shut out of doors at +bed-time, and then, when all was still, climbing up to my window by +means of a porch over a door beneath it, to pass the night on my bed. In +some alterations of the house, the porch was taken away. She looked with +dismay for a moment at the destruction of her ladder, then calmly ran up +the side of the house to my window, which she always after continued to +do. + +"Next in importance, perhaps, is my present intimate companion, now ten +years old and absolutely deaf, so that we communicate with signs. If I +want to attract his attention I step on the floor: if to go to his +dinner, I show him a certain blue plate: to call him in at night, I take +a lantern outside the door, and the flash of light attracts his +attention from a great distance. On one occasion he lived nine months +alone in the house while I made a trip to Europe, absolutely refusing +all the neighbors' invitations to enter any other house. A friend's +gardener brought him his daily rations. As warm weather came, he spent +his days in the fields, returning in the night for his food, so that at +my return it was two or three days before he discovered that the house +was open. The third evening he entered the open door, looked wildly +about for a moment, but when I put my hand on him suddenly recognized me +and overwhelmed me with affectionate caresses, and for two days and +nights would not allow me out of his sight, unable to eat or sleep +unless I was close at hand, and following me from room to room and chair +to chair. And people say that cats have no affection!" + +At the Quincy House in Boston may be seen in the office an oil painting +of an immense yellow cat. The first time I noticed the picture, I was +proceeding into the dining room, and while waiting for dinner, was +amused at seeing the original of the picture walk sedately in, all +alone, and going to an empty table, seat himself with majestic grace in +a chair. The waiter, seeing him, came forward and pushed up the chair as +he would do for any other guest. The cat then waited patiently without +putting his paws on the table, or violating any other law of table +etiquette, until a plate of meat came, cut up to suit his taste (I did +not hear him give his order), and then, placing his front paws on the +edge of the table, he ate from his plate. When he had finished, he +descended from his table and stalked out of the room with much dignity. +He was always regular at his meals, and although he picked out a good +seat, did not always sit at the same table. He was in appearance +something like the famous orange cats of Venice, and attracted much +attention, as might be expected, up to his death, at a ripe old age. + +Miss Frances Willard was a cat-lover, too, and had a beautiful cat which +is known to all her friends. + +"Tootsie" went to Rest Cottage, the home of Frances Willard, when only a +kitten, and there he lived, the pet of the household and its guests, +until several years ago, when Miss Willard prepared to go abroad. Then +she took Tootsie in her arms, carried him to the Drexel kennels in +Chicago, and asked their owner, Mrs. Leland Norton, to admit him as a +member of her large cat family, where he still lives. To his praise be +it spoken, he has never forgotten his old friends at Rest Cottage. To +this day, whenever any of them come to call upon him, he honors them +with instant and hearty recognition. Miss Willard was sometimes forced +to be separated from him more than a year at a time, but neither time +nor change had any effect upon Tootsie. At the first sound of her voice +he would spring to her side. He is a magnificent Angora, weighing +twenty-four pounds, with the long, silky hair, the frill, or lord +mayor's chain, the superb curling tail, and the large, full eyes of the +thoroughbred. Then he has proved himself of aristocratic tendencies, has +beautiful manners, is endowed with the human qualities of memory and +discrimination, and is aesthetic in his tastes. + +Being the privileged character that he is, Tootsie always eats at the +table with the family. He has his own chair and bib, and his manners are +said to be exquisite. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS + + +It is quite common for writers on the cat to say, "The story of +Theophile Gautier's cats is too familiar to need comment." On the +contrary, I do not believe it is familiar to the average reader, and +that only those who know Gautier's "Menagerie In-time" in the original, +recall the particulars of his "White and Black Dynasties." For this +reason they shall be repeated in these pages. I use Mrs. Cashel-Hoey's +translation, partly in a selfish desire to save myself time and labor, +but principally because she has preserved so successfully the +sympathetic and appreciative spirit of M. Gautier himself. + +"Dynasties of cats, as numerous as those of the Egyptian kings, +succeeded each other in my dwelling," says he. "One after another they +were swept away by accident, by flight, by death. All were loved and +regretted: but life is made up of oblivion, and the memory of cats dies +out like the memory of men." After making mention of an old gray cat who +always took his part against his parents, and used to bite Madame +Gautier's legs when she presumed to reprove her son, he passes on at +once to the romantic period, and the commemoration of Childebrand. + +"This name at once reveals a deep design of flouting Boileau, whom I did +not like then, but have since become reconciled to. Has not Nicholas +said:-- + + "'O le plaisant projet d'un poete ignorant + Que de tant de heros va choisir Childebrant!' + + +"Now I considered Childebrand a very fine name indeed, Merovingian, +mediaeval, and Gothic, and vastly preferable to Agamemnon, Achilles, +Ulysses, or any Greek name whatsoever. Romanticism was the fashion of my +early days: I have no doubt the people of classical times called their +cats Hector, Ajax, or Patroclus. Childebrand was a splendid cat of +common kind, tawny and striped with black, like the hose of Saltabadil +in 'Le Rois' Amuse.' With his large, green, almond-shaped eyes, and his +symmetrical stripes, there was something tigerlike about him that +pleased me. Childebrand had the honor of figuring in some verses that I +wrote to 'flout' Boileau:-- + + "Puis je te decrirai ce tableau de Rembrandt + Que me fait tant plaisir: et mon chat Childebrand, + Sur mes genoux pose selon son habitude, + Levant sur moi la tete avec inquietude, + Suivra les mouvements de mon doigt qui dans l'air + Esquisse mon recit pour le rendre plus clair. + + +"Childebrand was brought in there to make a good rhyme for Rembrandt, +the piece being a kind of confession of the romantic faith made to a +friend, who was then as enthusiastic as myself about Victor Hugo, Sainte +Beuve, and Alfred de Musset.... I come next to Madame Theophile, a 'red' +cat, with a white breast, a pink nose, and blue eyes, whom I called by +that name because we were on terms of the closest intimacy. She slept at +the foot of my bed: she sat on the arm of my chair while I wrote: she +came down into the garden and gravely walked about with me: she was +present at all my meals, and frequently intercepted a choice morsel on +its way from my plate to my mouth. One day a friend who was going away +for a short time, brought me his parrot, to be taken care of during his +absence. The bird, finding itself in a strange place, climbed up to the +top of its perch by the aid of its beak, and rolled its eyes (as yellow +as the nails in my arm-chair) in a rather frightened manner, also moving +the white membranes that formed its eyelids. Madame Theophile had never +seen a parrot, and she regarded the creature with manifest surprise. +While remaining as motionless as a cat mummy from Egypt in its swathing +bands, she fixed her eyes upon the bird with a look of profound +meditation, summoning up all the notions of natural history that she had +picked up in the yard, in the garden, and on the roof. The shadow of her +thoughts passed over her changing eyes, and we could plainly read in +them the conclusion to which her scrutiny led, 'Decidedly this is a +green chicken.' + +"This result attained, the next proceeding of Madame Theophile was to +jump off the table from which she had made her observations, and lay +herself flat on the ground in a corner of the room, exactly in the +attitude of the panther in Gerome's picture watching the gazelles as +they come down to drink at a lake. The parrot followed the movements of +the cat with feverish anxiety: it ruffled its feathers, rattled its +chain, lifted one of its feet and shook the claws, and rubbed its beak +against the edge of its trough. Instinct told it that the cat was an +enemy and meant mischief. The cat's eyes were now fixed upon the bird +with fascinating intensity, and they said in perfectly intelligible +language, which the poor parrot distinctly understood, 'This chicken +ought to be good to eat, although it is green.' We watched the scene +with great interest, ready to interfere at need. Madame Theophile was +creeping nearer and nearer almost imperceptibly; her pink nose quivered, +her eyes were half closed, her contractile claws moved in and out of +their velvet sheaths, slight thrills of pleasure ran along her backbone +at the idea of the meal she was about to make. Such novel and exotic +food excited her appetite. + +"All in an instant her back took the shape of a bent bow, and with a +vigorous and elastic bound she sprang upon the perch. The parrot, seeing +its danger, said in a bass voice as grave and deep as M. Prudhomme's +own, 'As tu dejeune, Jacquot?' + +"This utterance so terrified the cat that she sprang backwards. The +blare of a trumpet, the crash and smash of a pile of plates flung to the +ground, a pistol shot fired off at her ear, could not have frightened +her more thoroughly. All her ornithological ideas were overthrown. + +"'Et de quoi? Du roti du roi?' continued the parrot. + +"Then might we, the observers, read in the physiognomy of Madame +Theophile, 'This is not a bird, it is a gentleman; it talks.' + + "'Quand j'ai bu du vin clairet, + Tout tourne, tout tourne an cabaret,' + +shrieked the parrot in a deafening voice, for it had perceived that its +best means of defence was the terror aroused by its speech. The cat cast +a glance at me which was full of questioning, but as my response was not +satisfactory, she promptly hid herself under the bed, and from that +refuge she could not be induced to stir during the whole of the day. +People who are not accustomed to live with animals, and who, like +Descartes, regard them as mere machines, will think that I lend +unauthorized meanings to the acts of the 'volatile' and the 'quadruped,' +but I have only faithfully translated their ideas into human language. +The next day Madame Theophile plucked up courage and made another +attempt, which was similarly repulsed. From that moment she gave it up, +accepting the bird as a variety of man. + +"This dainty and charming animal was extremely fond of perfumes, +especially of patchouli and the scent exhaled by India shawls. She was +also very fond of music, and would listen, sitting on a pile of +music-books, while the fair singers who came to try the critic's piano +filled his room with melody. All the time Madame Theophile would evince +great pleasure. She was, however, made nervous by certain notes, and at +the high _la_ she would tap the singer's mouth with her paw. This +was very amusing, and my visitors delighted in making the experiment. It +never failed; the dilettante in fun was not to be deceived. + +"The rule of the 'White Dynasty' belonged to a later epoch, and was +inaugurated in the person of a pretty little kitten as white as a powder +puff, who came from Havana. On account of his spotless whiteness he was +called Pierrot; but when he grew up this name was very properly +magnified into Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, which was far more majestic, and +suggested 'grandee-ism.' [M. Theophile Gautier lays it down as a dogma +that all animals with whom one is much taken up, and who are 'spoiled,' +become delightfully good and amiable. Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre +successfully supported his master's theory; perhaps he suggested it.] + +"He shared in the life of the household with the enjoyment of quiet +fireside friendship that is characteristic of cats. He had his own place +near the fire, and there he would sit with a convincing air of +comprehension of all that was talked of and of interest in it; he +followed the looks of the speakers, and uttered little sounds toward +them as though he, too, had objections to make and opinions to give upon +the literary subjects which were most frequently discussed. He was very +fond of books, and when he found one open on a table he would lie down +on it, turn over the edges of the leaves with his paws, and after a +while fall asleep, for all the world as if he had been reading a +fashionable novel. He was deeply interested in my writing, too; the +moment I took up my pen he would jump upon the desk, and follow the +movement of the penholder with the gravest attention, making a little +movement with his head at the beginning of each line. Sometimes he would +try to take the pen out of my hand. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre never went to bed until I had come in. He would +wait for me just inside the outer door and rub himself to my legs, his +back in an arch, with a glad and friendly purring. Then he would go on +before me, preceding me with a page-like air, and I have no doubt, if I +had asked him, he would have carried the candlestick. Having thus +conducted me to my bedroom, he would wait quietly while I undressed, and +then jump on my bed, take my neck between his paws, gently rub my nose +with his own, and lick me with his small, pink tongue, as rough as a +file, uttering all the time little inarticulate cries, which expressed +as clearly as any words could do his perfect satisfaction at having me +with him again. After these caresses he would perch himself on the back +of the bedstead and sleep there, carefully balanced, like a bird on a +branch. When I awoke, he would come down and lie beside me until I got +up. + +"Pierrot was as strict as a concierge in his notions of the proper hour +for all good people to return to their homes. He did not approve of +anything later than midnight. In those days we had a little society +among friends, which we called 'The Four Candles,'--the light in our +place of meeting being restricted to four candles in silver +candlesticks, placed at the four corners of the tables. Sometimes the +talk became so animated that I forgot all about time, and twice or three +times Pierrot sat up for me until two o'clock in the morning. After a +while, however, my conduct in this respect displeased him, and he +retired to rest without me. I was touched by this mute protest against +my innocent dissipation, and thenceforth came home regularly at twelve +o'clock. Nevertheless, Pierrot cherished the memory of my offence for +some time; he waited to test the reality of my repentance, but when he +was convinced that my conversion was sincere, he deigned to restore me +to his good graces, and resumed his nocturnal post in the anteroom. + +"To gain the friendship of a cat is a difficult thing. The cat is a +philosophical, methodical, quiet animal, tenacious of its own habits, +fond of order and cleanliness, and it does not lightly confer its +friendship. If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your +friend, but never your slave. He keeps his free will, though he loves, +and he will not do for you what he thinks unreasonable; but if he once +gives himself to you, it is with such absolute confidence, such fidelity +of affection. He makes himself the companion of your hours of solitude, +melancholy, and toil. He remains for whole evenings on your knee, +uttering his contented purr, happy to be with you, and forsaking the +company of animals of his own species. In vain do melodious mewings on +the roof invite him to one of those cat parties in which fish bones play +the part of tea and cakes; he is not to be tempted away from you. Put +him down and he will jump up again, with a sort of cooing sound that is +like a gentle reproach; and sometimes he will sit upon the carpet in +front of you, looking at you with eyes so melting, so caressing, and so +human, that they almost frighten you, for it is impossible to believe +that a soul is not there. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre had a sweetheart of the same race and of as +snowy a whiteness as himself. The ermine would have looked yellow by the +side of Seraphita, for so this lovely creature was named, in honor of +Balzac's Swedenborgian romance. Seraphita was of a dreamy and +contemplative disposition. She would sit on a cushion for hours +together, quite motionless, not asleep, and following with her eyes, in +a rapture of attention, sights invisible to mere mortals. Caresses were +agreeable to her, but she returned them in a very reserved manner, and +only in the case of persons whom she favored with her rarely accorded +esteem. She was fond of luxury, and it was always upon the handsomest +easy-chair, or the rug that would best show off her snowy fur, that she +would surely be found. She devoted a great deal of time to her toilet, +her glossy coat was carefully smoothed every morning. She washed herself +with her paw, and licked every atom of her fur with her pink tongue +until it shone like new silver. When any one touched her, she instantly +effaced all trace of the contact; she could not endure to be tumbled. An +idea of aristocracy was suggested by her elegance and distinction, and +among her own people she was a duchess at least. She delighted in +perfumes, would stick her nose into bouquets, bite scented handkerchiefs +with little spasms of pleasure, and walk about among the scent bottles +on the toilet table, smelling at their stoppers; no doubt, she would +have used the powder puff if she had been permitted. Such was Seraphita, +and never did cat more amply justify a poetic name. I must mention here +that, in the days of the White Dynasty, I was also the happy possessor +of a family of white rats, and that the cats, always supposed to be +their natural, invariable, and irreconcilable enemies, lived in perfect +harmony with my pet rodents. The rats never showed the slightest +distrust of the cats, nor did the cats ever betray their confidence. +Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre was very much attached to them. He would sit +close to their cage and observe their gambols for hours together, and if +by any chance the door of the room in which they were left was shut, he +would scratch and mew gently until some one came to open it and allow +him to rejoin his little white friends, who would often come out of the +cage and sleep close to him. Seraphita, who was of a more reserved and +disdainful temper, and who disliked the musky odor of the white rats, +took no part in their games; but she never did them any harm, and would +let them pass before her without putting out a claw. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, who came from Havana, required a hothouse +temperature: and this he always had in his own apartments. The house +was, however, surrounded by extensive gardens, divided by railings, +through and over which cats could easily climb, and in those gardens +were trees inhabited by a great number of birds. Pierrot would +frequently take advantage of an open door to get out of an evening and +go a-hunting through the wet grass and flower-beds: and, as his mewing +under the windows when he wanted to get in again did not always awaken +the sleepers in the house, he frequently had to stay out until morning. +His chest was delicate, and one very chilly night he caught a cold which +rapidly developed into phthisis. At the end of a year of coughing, poor +Don Pierrot had wasted to a skeleton, and his coat, once so silky, was a +dull, harsh white. His large, transparent eyes looked unnaturally large +in his shrunken face: the pink of his little nose had faded, and he +dragged himself slowly along the sunny side of the wall with a +melancholy air, looking at the yellow autumnal leaves as they danced and +whirled in the wind. Nothing is so touching as a sick animal: it submits +to suffering with such gentle and sad resignation. We did all in our +power to save Pierrot: a skilful doctor came to see him, felt his pulse, +sounded his lungs, and ordered him ass's milk. He drank the prescribed +beverage very readily out of his own especial china saucer. For hours +together he lay stretched upon my knee, like the shadow of a sphinx. I +felt his spine under my finger tips like the beads of a rosary, and he +tried to respond to my caresses by a feeble purr that resembled a +death-rattle. On the day of his death he was lying on his side panting, +and suddenly, with a supreme effort, he rose and came to me. His large +eyes were opened wide, and he gazed at me with a look of intense +supplication, a look that seemed to say, 'Save me, save me, you, who are +a man.' Then he made a few faltering steps, his eyes became glassy, and +he fell down, uttering so lamentable a cry, so dreadful and full of +anguish, that I was struck dumb and motionless with horror. He was +buried at the bottom of the garden under a white rose tree, which still +marks the place of his sepulture. Three years later Seraphita died, and +was buried by the side of Don Pierrot. With her the White Dynasty became +extinct, but not the family. This snow-white couple had three children, +who were as black as ink. Let any one explain that mystery who can. The +kittens were born in the early days of the great renown of Victor Hugo's +'Les Miserables,' when everybody was talking of the new masterpiece, and +the names of the personages in it were in every mouth. The two little +male creatures were called Enjolras and Gavroche, and their sister +received the name of Eponine. They were very pretty, and I trained them +to run after a little ball of paper and bring it back to me when I threw +it into the corner of the room. In time they would follow the ball up to +the top of the bookcase, or fish for it behind boxes or in the bottom of +china vases with their dainty little paws. As they grew up they came to +disdain those frivolous amusements, and assumed the philosophical and +meditative quiet which is the true temperament of the cat. + +"To the eyes of the careless and indifferent observer, three black cats +are just three black cats, but those who are really acquainted with +animals know that their physiognomy is as various as that of the human +race. I was perfectly well able to distinguish between these little +faces, as black as Harlequin's mask, and lighted up by disks of emerald +with golden gleams. Enjolras, who was much the handsomest of the three, +was remarkable for his broad, leonine head and full whiskers, strong +shoulders, and a superb feathery tail. There was something theatrical +and pretentious in his air, like the posing of a popular actor. His +movements were slow, undulatory, and majestic: so circumspect was he +about where he set his feet down that he always seemed to be walking +among glass and china. His disposition was by no means stoical, and he +was much too fond of food to have been approved of by his namesake. The +temperate and austere Enjolras would certainly have said to him, as the +angel said to Swedenborg, 'You eat too much.' I encouraged his +gastronomical tastes, and Enjolras attained a very unusual size and +weight. + +"Gavroche was a remarkably knowing cat, and looked it. He was +wonderfully active, and his twists, twirls, and tumbles were very comic. +He was of a Bohemian temperament, and fond of low company. Thus he would +occasionally compromise the dignity of his descent from the illustrious +Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, grandee of Spain of the first class, and the +Marquesa Dona Seraphita, of aristocratic and disdainful bearing. He +would sometimes return from his expeditions to the street, accompanied +by gaunt, starved companions, whom he had picked up in his wanderings, +and he would stand complacently by while they bolted the contents of his +plate of food in a violent hurry and in dread of dispersion by a +broomstick or a shower of water. I was sometimes tempted to say to +Gavroche, 'A nice lot of friends you pick up,' but I refrained, for, +after all, it was an amiable weakness: he might have eaten his dinner +all by himself. + +"The interesting Eponine was more slender and graceful than her +brothers, and she was an extraordinarily sensitive, nervous, and +electric animal. She was passionately attached to me, and she would do +the honors of my hermitage with perfect grace and propriety. When the +bell rang, she hastened to the door, received the visitors, conducted +them to the salon, made them take seats, talked to them--yes, talked, +with little coos, murmurs, and cries quite unlike the language which +cats use among themselves, and which bordered on the articulate speech +of man. What did she say? She said quite plainly: 'Don't be impatient: +look at the pictures, or talk with me, if I amuse you. My master is +coming down.' On my appearing she would retire discreetly to an +arm-chair or the corner of the piano, and listen to the conversation +without interrupting it, like a well-bred animal accustomed to good +society. + +"Eponine's intelligence, fine disposition, and sociability led to her +being elevated by common consent to the dignity of a person, for reason, +superior instinct, plainly governed her conduct. That dignity conferred +on her the right to eat at table like a person, and not in a corner on +the floor, from a saucer, like an animal. Eponine had a chair by my side +at breakfast and dinner, but in consideration of her size she was +privileged to place her fore paws on the table. Her place was laid, +without a knife and fork, indeed, but with a glass, and she went +regularly through dinner, from soup to dessert, awaiting her turn to be +helped, and behaving with a quiet propriety which most children might +imitate with advantage. At the first stroke of the bell she would +appear, and when I came into the dining room she would be at her post, +upright in her chair, her fore paws on the edge of the tablecloth, and +she would present her smooth forehead to be kissed, like a well-bred +little girl who was affectionately polite to relatives and old people. +When we had friends to dine with us, Eponine always knew that company +was expected. She would look at her place, and if a knife, fork, and +spoon lay near her plate she would immediately turn away and seat +herself on the piano-stool, her invariable refuge. Let those who deny +the possession of reason to animals explain, if they can, this little +fact, apparently so simple, but which contains a world of induction. +From the presence near her plate of those implements which only man can +use, the observant and judicious cat concluded that she ought on this +occasion to give way to a guest, and she hastened to do so. She was +never mistaken: only, when the visitor was a person whom she knew and +liked, she would jump on his knee and coax him for a bit off his plate +by her graceful caresses. She survived her brothers, and was my dear +companion for several years.... Such is the chronicle of the Black +Dynasty." + +Although cats have no place in the Bible, neither can their enemies who +sing the praise of the dog, find much advantage there: for that most +excellent animal is referred to in anything but a complimentary +fashion--"For without are dogs and sorcerers." + +The great prophet of Allah, however, knew a good cat when he saw it. +"Muezza" even contributed her small share to the development of the +Mahometan system: for did she not sit curled up in her master's sleeve, +and by her soft purring soothe and deepen his meditations? And did she +not keep him dreaming so long that she finally became exhausted herself, +and fell asleep in his flowing sleeve; whereupon did not Mahomet, rather +than disturb her, and feeling that he must be about his Allah's +business, cut off his sleeve rather than disturb the much loved Muezza? +The nurses of Cairo tell this story to their young charges to this day. + +Cardinal Richelieu had many a kitten, too; and morose and ill-tempered +as he was, found in them much amusement. His love for them, however, was +not that unselfish love which led Mahomet to cut off his sleeve; but +simply a selfish desire for passing amusement. He cared nothing for that +most interesting process, the development of a kitten into a cat, and +the study of its individuality which is known only to the real lover of +cats. For it is recorded of him that as soon as his pets were three +months old he sent them away, evidently not caring where, and procured +new ones. + +M. Champfleury, however, thinks it possible that there may not be any +real foundation for this story about Richelieu. He refers to the fact +that Moncrif says not a word about the celebrated cardinal's passion for +those creatures; but he does say, "Everybody knows that one of the +greatest ministers France ever possessed, M. Colbert, always had a +number of kittens playing about that same cabinet in which so many +institutions, both honorable and useful to the nation, had their +origin." Can it be that Richelieu has been given credit for Colbert's +virtues? + +In various parts of Chateaubriand's "Memoires" may be found eulogiums on +the cat. So well known was his fondness for them, that even when his +other feelings and interests faded with age and decay, his affections +for cats remained strong to the end. This love became well known to all +his compeers, and once on an embassy to Rome the Pope gave him a cat. He +was called "Micetto." According to Chateaubriand's biographer, M. de +Marcellus, "Pope Leo XII's cat could not fail to reappear in the +description of that domestic hearth where I have so often seen him +basking. In fact, Chateaubriand has immortalized his favorite in the +sketch which begins, 'My companion is a big cat, of a greyish red.'" +This ecclesiastical pet was always dignified and imposing in manners, +ever conscious that he had been the gift of a sovereign pontiff, and had +a tremendous weight of reputation to maintain. He used to stroke his +tail when he desired Madame Recamier to know that he was tired. + +"I love in the cat," said Chateaubriand to M. de Marcellus, "that +independent and almost ungrateful temper which prevents it from +attaching itself to any one: the indifference with which it passes from +the salon to the house-top. When you caress it, it stretches itself out +and arches its back, indeed: but that is caused by physical pleasure, +not, as in the case of the dog, by a silly satisfaction in loving and +being faithful to a master who returns thanks in kicks. The cat lives +alone, has no need of society, does not obey except when it likes, and +pretends to sleep that it may see the more clearly, and scratches +everything that it can scratch. Buffon has belied the cat: I am laboring +at its rehabilitation, and hope to make of it a tolerably good sort of +animal, as times go." + +Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor of England, was another cat-lover, +and his superb cat sat in a cushioned arm-chair by his side in the +zenith of his pride and power, the only one in that select circle who +was not obliged to don a wig and robe while acting in a judicial +capacity. Then there was Bouhaki, the proud Theban cat that used to wear +gold earrings as he sat at the feet of King Hana, his owner, perhaps, +but not his master, and whose reproduction in the tomb of Hana in the +Necropolis at Thebes, between his master's feet in a statue, is one of +the most ancient reproductions of a cat. And Sainte-Beuve, whose cat +used to roam at will over his desk and sit or lie on the precious +manuscripts no other person was allowed to touch; it is flattering to +know that the great Frenchman and I have one habit in common; and Miss +Repplier owns to it too. "But Sainte-Beuve," says she, "probably had +sufficient space reserved for his own comfort and convenience. I have +not; and Agrippina's beautifully ringed tail flapping across my copy +distracts my attention and imperils the neatness of my penmanship." And +even as I write these pages, does the Pretty Lady's daughter Jane lie on +my copy and gaze lovingly at me as I work. + +Julian Hawthorne is another writer whose cat is an accompaniment of his +working hours. In this connection we must not forget M. Brasseur +Wirtgen, a student of natural history who writes of his cat: "My habit +of reading," he says, "which divided us from each other in our +respective thoughts, prejudiced my cat very strongly against my books. +Sometimes her little head would project its profile on the page which I +was perusing, as though she were trying to discover what it was that +thus absorbed me: doubtless, she did not understand why I should look +for my happiness beyond the presence of a devoted heart. Her solicitude +was no less manifest when she brought me rats or mice. She acted in this +case exactly as if I had been her son: dragging enormous rats, still in +the throes of death, to my feet: and she was evidently guided by logic +in offering me a prey commensurate with my size, for she never presented +any such large game to her kittens. Her affectionate attention +invariably caused her a severe disappointment. Having laid the product +of her hunting expedition at my feet, she would appear to be greatly +hurt by my indifference to such delicious fare." + +That Tasso had a cat we know because he wrote a sonnet to her. Alfred de +Musset's cats are apostrophized in his verses. Dr. Johnson's Hodge held +a soft place for many years in the gruff old scholar's breast. And has +not every one heard how the famous Dr. Johnson fetched oysters for his +beloved Hodge, lest the servants should object to the trouble, and vent +their displeasure on his favorite? + +Nor can one forget Sir Isaac Newton and his cats: for is it not alleged +that the great man had two holes cut in his barn door, one for the +mother, and a smaller one for the kitten? + +Byron was fond of cats: in his establishment at Ravenna he had five of +them. Daniel Maclise's famous portrait of Harriet Martineau represents +that estimable woman sitting in front of a fireplace and turning her +face to receive the caress of her pet cat crawling to a resting-place +upon her mistress's shoulder. + +Although La Fontaine in his fables shows such a delicate appreciation of +their character and ways, it is doubtful whether he honestly loved cats. +But his friend and patron, the Duchess of Bouillon, was so devoted to +them that she requested the poet to make her a copy with his own hand of +all his fables in which pussy appears. The exercise-book in which they +were written was discovered a few years ago among the Bouillon papers. + +Baudelaire, it is said, could never pass a cat in the street without +stopping to stroke and fondle it. "Many a time," said Champfleury, "when +he and I have been walking together, have we stopped to look at a cat +curled luxuriously in a pile of fresh white linen, revelling in the +cleanliness of the newly ironed fabrics. Into what fits of contemplation +have we fallen before such windows, while the coquettish laundresses +struck attitudes at the ironing boards, under the mistaken impression +that we were admiring them." It was also related of Baudelaire that, +"going for the first time to a house, he is restless and uneasy until he +has seen the household cat. But when he sees it, he takes it up, kisses +and strokes it, and is so completely absorbed in it, that he makes no +answer to what is said to him." + +Professor Huxley's notorious fondness for cats was a fad which he shared +with Paul de Koch, the novelist, who, at one time, kept as many as +thirty cats in his house. Many descriptions of them are to be found +scattered through his novels. His chief favorite, Fromentin, lived +eleven years with him. + +Pierre Loti has written a charming and most touching history of two of +his cats--Moumette Blanche and Moumette Chinoise--which all true +cat-lovers should make a point of reading. + +Algernon Swinburne, the poet, is devoted to cats. His favorite is named +Atossa. Robert Southey was an ardent lover of cats. Most people have +read his letter to his friend Bedford, announcing the death of one. +"Alas, Grosvenor," he wrote, "this day poor Rumpel was found dead, after +as long and happy a life as cat could wish for, if cats form wishes on +that subject. His full titles were: The Most Noble, the Archduke +Rumpelstiltzchen, Marcus Macbum, Earl Tomlefnagne, Baron Raticide, +Waowhler and Scratch. There should be a court-mourning in Catland, and +if the Dragon (your pet cat) wear a black ribbon round his neck, or a +band of crape _a la militaire_ round one of his fore paws it will +be but a becoming mark of respect." Then the poet-laureate adds, "I +believe we are each and all, servants included, more sorry for his loss, +or, rather, more affected by it, than any of us would like to confess." + +Josh Billings called his favorite cat William, because he considered no +shorter name fitted to the dignity of his character. "Poor old man," he +remarked one day, to a friend, "he has fits now, so I call him +Fitz-William." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND + + +If the growing fancy for cats in this country is benefiting the feline +race as a whole, they have to thank the English people for it. For +certain cats in England are held at a value that seems preposterous to +unsophisticated Americans. At one cat and bird show, held at the Crystal +Palace, near London, some of the cats were valued at thirty-five hundred +pounds sterling ($17,500)--as much as the price of a first-class +race-horse. + +For more than a quarter of a century National Cat Shows have been held +at Crystal Palace and the Westminster Aquarium, which have given great +stimulus to the breeding of fine cats, and "catteries" where high-priced +cats and kittens are raised are common throughout the country. + +England was the first, too, to care for lost and deserted cats and dogs. +At Battersea there is a Temporary Home for both these unfortunates, +where between twenty and twenty-five thousand dogs and cats are +sheltered and fed. The objects of this home, which is supported entirely +by voluntary subscriptions, are to restore lost pets to their owners, to +find suitable homes for unclaimed cats and dogs, and to painlessly +destroy useless and diseased ones. There is a commodious cat's house +where pets may be boarded during their owner's absence; and a separate +house where lost and deserted felines are sheltered, fed, and kindly +tended. + +Since long before Whittington became Lord Mayor of London, indeed, cats +have been popular in England: for did not the law protect them? As to +the truth of the story of Whittington's cat, there has been much earnest +discussion. Although Whittington lived from about 1360 to 1425, the +story seems to have been pretty generally accepted for three hundred +years after his death. A portrait still exists of him, with one hand +holding a cat, and when his old house was remodelled in recent times, a +carved stone was found in it showing a boy with a cat in his arms. +Several similar tales have been found, it is argued, in which the heroes +in different countries have started to make a fortune by selling a cat. +But as rats and mice were extremely common then, and it has been shown +that a single pair of rats will in three years multiply into over six +hundred thousand, which will eat as much as sixty-four thousand men, why +shouldn't a cat be deemed a luxury even for a king's palace? The +argument that the cat of Whittington was a "cat," or boat used for +carrying coal, is disproved by the fact that no account of such vessels +in Whittington's time can be found, and also that the trade in coal did +not begin in Europe for some time afterward. And there really seems +nothing improbable in the story that at a time when a kitten big enough +to kill mice brought fourpence in England, such an animal, taken to a +rat-infested, catless country, might not be sold for a sum large enough +to start an enterprising youth in trade. Surely, the beginnings of some +of our own railroad kings and financiers may as well look doubtful to +future generations. + +It is a pretty story--that of Whittington; how he rose from being a mere +scullion at fourteen, to being "thrice Lord Mayor of London." According +to what are claimed to be authentic documents, the story is something +more than a nursery tale, and runs thus: Poor Dick Whittington was born +at Shropshire, of such very poor parents that the boy, being of an +ambitious nature, left home at fourteen, and walked to London, where he +was taken into the hospital of St. John at Clerkenwell, in a menial +capacity. The prior, noticing his good behavior and diligent conduct, +took a fancy to him, and obtained him a position in a Mr. Fitzwarren's +household on Tower Hill. For some time at this place his prospects did +not improve; he was nothing but a scullion, ridiculed and disliked by +the cook and other servants. Add to this the fact that an incredible +swarm of mice and rats infested the miserable room in which he slept, +and it would seem that he was indeed a "poor Richard." One fortunate +day, however, he conceived the idea of buying a cat, and as good luck +would have it, he was enabled within a few days to earn a penny or two +by blacking the boots of a guest at the house. That day he met a woman +with a cat for sale, and after some dickering (for she asked more money +for it than the boy possessed in the world), Dick Whittington carried +home his cat and put it in a cupboard or closet opening from his room. +That night when he retired he let the cat out of the cupboard, and she +evidently had "no end of fun"; for, according to these authentic +accounts, "she destroyed all the vermin which ventured to make their +appearance." For some time after that she passed her days in the +cupboard (in hiding from the cook) and her nights in catching mice. + +And then came the change. Mr. Fitzwarren was fitting out a vessel for +Algiers, and kindly offered all his servants a chance to send something +to barter with the natives. Poor Dick had nothing but his cat, but the +commercial instinct was even then strong within him, and with an +enterprise worthy of the early efforts of any of our self-made men, he +decided to send that, and accordingly placed it, "while the tears run +plentifully down his cheeks," in the hands of the master of the vessel. +She must have been a most exemplary cat, for by the time they had +reached Algiers, the captain was so fond of her that he allowed no one +to handle her but himself. Not even he, however, expected to turn her +into money; but the opportunity soon came. + +At a state banquet, given by the Dey, the captain and his officers were +astonished to notice that rats and mice ran freely in and out, stealing +half the choice food, which was spread on the carpet; and this was a +common, every-day occurrence. The captain saw his, or Whittington's, +opportunity, and stated that he knew a certain remedy for this state of +affairs; whereupon he was invited to dinner next day, to which he +carried the cat, and the natural consequence ensued. This sudden and +swift extermination of the pests drove the Dey and his court half +frantic with delight; and the captain, who must have been the original +progenitor of the Yankee race, drove a sharp bargain by assuming to be +unwilling to part with the cat, so that the Dey finally "sent on board +his ship the choicest commodities, consisting of gold, jewels, and +silks." + +Meanwhile, things had gone from bad to worse with the youth, destined to +become not only Lord Mayor of London, but the envy and admiration of +future generations of youths; and he made up his mind to run away from +his place. This he did, but while he was on his way to more rural +scenes, he sat down on a stone at the foot of Highgate Hill (a stone +that still remains marked as "Whittington's Stone") and paused to +reflect on his prospects. His thoughts turned back to the home he had +left, where he had at least plenty to eat, and, although the "authentic +reports" use a great many words to tell us so, the boy was homesick. +Just then the sound of Bow Bells reached him, and to his youthful fancy +seemed to call him back:-- + + "Return, return, Whittington; + Thrice Lord Mayor of London." + + +Thus the old tale hath it. At any rate, the boy gave up the idea of +flight and went back to Mr. Fitzwarren's house. The second night after, +his master sent for him in the midst of one of the cook's tirades, and +going to the "parlour" he was apprised of his sudden wealth; because, +added to the rest of his good luck, that captain happened to be an +honest man. And then he went into trade and married the daughter of Mr. +Fitzwarren and became Lord Mayor of London, and lived even happier ever +after than they do in most fairy tales. And everybody, even the cook, +admired and loved him after he had money and position, as has been known +to happen outside of fairy tales. + +Whether or not cats in England owe anything of their position to-day to +the Whittington story, it is certain that they have more really +appreciating friends there than in any other country. The older we grow +in the refinements of civilization, the more we value the finely bred +cat. In England it has long been the custom to register the pedigree of +cats as carefully as dog-fanciers in this country do with their fancy +pets. Some account of the Cat Club Stud Book and Register will be found +in the next chapter. Queen Victoria, and the Princess of Wales, and +indeed many members of the nobility are cat-lovers, and doubtless this +fact influences the general sentiment in England. + +Among the most devoted of Pussy's English admirers is the Hon. Mrs. +McLaren Morrison, who is the happy possessor of some of the most perfect +dogs and cats that have graced the bench. She lives at Kepwick Park, in +her stately home in Yorkshire--a lovely spot, commanding a delightful +view of picturesque Westmoreland on one side and on the other three +surrounded and sheltered by hills and moors. Some of her pets go with +her, however, to her flat in Queen Anne's Mansions, and even to her +residence in Calcutta. It is at Kepwick Park that Mrs. McLaren Morrison +has her celebrated "catteries." Here there are magnificent blue, black +and silver and red Persians; snowy white, blue-eyed beauties; grandly +marked English tabbies; handsome blue Russians, with their gleaming +yellow-topaz eyes; some Chinese cats, with their long, edge-shaped heads, +bright golden eyes, and shiny, short-haired black fur; and a pair of +Japanese pussies, pure white and absolutely without tails. One of the +handsomest specimens of the feline race ever seen is her blue Persian, +Champion Monarch, who, as a kitten in 1893, won the gold medal at the +Crystal Palace given for the best pair of kittens in the show, and the +next year the Beresford Challenge Cup at Cruft's Show, for the best +long-haired cat, besides taking many other honors. Among other well-known +prize winners are the champions Snowball and Forget-me-not, both pure +white, with lovely turquoise-blue eyes. Of Champion Nizam (now dead) that +well-known English authority on cats, Mr. A.A. Clark, said his was the +grandest head of any cat he had ever seen. Nizam was a perfect specimen +of that rare and delicate breed of cats, a pure chinchilla. The numberless +kittens sporting all day long are worthy of the art of Madame Henriette +Ronner, and one could linger for hours in these delightful and most +comfortable catteries watching their gambols. The gentle mistress of this +fair and most interesting domain, the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison herself, +is one of the most attractive and fascinating women of the day--one who +adds to great personal beauty all the charm of mental culture and much +travel. She has made Kepwick Park a veritable House Beautiful with the +rare curios and art treasures collected with her perfect taste in the +many lands she has visited, and it is as interesting and enjoyable to a +virtuoso as it is to an animal lover. Mrs. McLaren Morrison exhibits at +all the cat shows, often entering as many as twenty-five cats. Other +English ladies who exhibit largely are Mrs. Herring, of Lestock House, +and Miss Cockburn Dickinson, of Surrey. Mrs. Herring's Champion Jimmy +is very well known as a first prize-winner in many shows. He is a +short-haired, exquisitely marked silver tabby valued at two thousand +pounds ($10,000). + +Another feline celebrity also well known to frequenters of English cat +shows, is Madame L. Portier's magnificent and colossal Blue Boy, whose +first appearance into this world was made on the day sacred to St. +Patrick, 1895. He has a fine pedigree, and was raised by Madame Portier +herself. Blue Boy commenced his career as a show cat, or rather kitten, +at three months old, when he was awarded a first prize, and when the +judge told his mistress that if he fulfilled his early promise he would +make a grand cat. This he has done, and is now one of the finest +specimens of his kind in England. He weighs over seventeen pounds, and +always has affixed to his cage on the show-bench this request, "Please +do not lift this cat by the neck; he is too heavy." He has long dark +blue fur, with a ruff of a lighter shade and brilliant topaz eyes. +Already Blue Boy has taken many prizes. He is a gelded cat and one of +the fortunate cats who have "Not for Sale" after their names in the show +catalogues. + +To Mrs. C. Hill's beautiful long-haired Patrick Blue fell the honor, at +the Crystal Palace Show in 1896, of a signed and framed photograph of +the Prince of Wales, presented by his Royal Highness for the best +long-haired cat in the show, irrespective of sex or nationality. Besides +the prize given by the Prince, Patrick Blue was the proud winner of the +Beresford Challenge Cup for the best blue long-haired cat, and the India +Silver Bowl for the best Persian. He also was born on St. Patrick's Day, +hence his name. He was bred by Mrs. Blair Maconochie, his father, Blue +Ruin I, being a celebrated gold medallist. His mother, Sylvia, who +belongs to Mrs. Maconochie, has never been shown, her strong point being +her lovely color, which is most happily reproduced in her perfect son. +Patrick Blue has all the many charms of a petted cat, and was +undoubtedly one of the prominent attractions of the first Championship +Show of the National Cat Club in 1896. + +Silver Lambkin is another very famous English cat, owned by Miss +Gresham, of Surrey. Princess Ranee, owned by Miss Freeland, of +Mottisfont, near Romney; Champion Southsea Hector, owned by Miss +Sangster, at Southsea; champions Prince Victor and Shelly, of Kingswood +(both of whom have taken no end of prizes), are other famous English +cats. + +Topso, a magnificent silver tabby male, belonging to Miss Anderson +Leake, of Dingley Hill, was at one time the best long-haired silver +tabby in England, and took the prize on that account in 1887; his sons, +daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters, have all taken prizes at +Crystal Palace in the silver tabby classes, since that time. + +Lady Marcus Beresford has for the last fifteen years made quite a +business of the breeding and rearing of cats. At Bishopsgate, near +Egham, she has what is without doubt the finest cattery. "I have +applications from all parts of the world for my cats and kittens," said +Lady Marcus, in a talk about her hobby, "and I may tell you that it is +largely because of this that I founded the Cat Club, which has for its +object the general welfare of the cat and the improvement of the breed. +My catteries were established in 1890, and at one time I had as many as +150 cats and kittens. Some of my pets live in a pretty cottage covered +with creepers, which might well be called Cat Cottage. No expense has +been spared in the fittings of the rooms, and every provision is made +for warmth and ventilation. One room is set apart for the girl who takes +entire charge of and feeds the pussies. She has a boy who works with her +and performs the rougher tasks. There is a small kitchen for cooking the +meals for the cats, and this is fitted with every requisite. On the +walls are racks to hold the white enamelled bowls and plates used for +the food. There is a medicine chest, which contains everything that is +needful for prompt and efficacious treatment in case pussy becomes sick. +On the wall are a list of the names and a full description of all the +inmates of the cattery, and a set of rules to be observed by both the +cats and their attendants. These rules are not ignored, and it is a +tribute to the intelligence of the cat to see how carefully pussy can +become amenable to discipline, if once given to understand of what that +discipline consists. + +"Then there is a garden cattery. I think this is the prettiest of all. +It is covered with roses and ivy. In this there are three rooms, +provided with shelves and all other conveniences which can add to the +cats' comfort and amusement. The residences of the male cats are most +complete, for I have given them every attention possible. Each male cat +has his separate sleeping apartments, closed with wire and with a 'run' +attached. Close at hand is a large, square grass 'run,' and in this each +gentleman takes his daily but solitary exercise. One of the stringent +rules of the cattery is that no two males shall ever be left together, +and I know that with my cats if this rule were not observed, both in +letter and precept, it would be a case of 'when Greek meets Greek.' + +"I vary the food for my cats as much as possible. One day we will have +most appetizing bowls of fish and rice. At the proper time you can see +these standing in the cat kitchen ready to be distributed. Another day +these bowls will be filled with minced meat. In the very hot weather a +good deal of vegetable matter is mixed with the food. Swiss milk is +given, so there is no fear of its turning sour. For some time I have +kept a goat on the premises, the milk from which is given to the +delicate or younger kittens. + +"I have started many of my poorer friends in cat breeding, and they have +proved conclusively how easily an addition to their income can be made, +not only by breeding good Persian kittens and selling them, but by +exhibiting them at the various shows and taking prizes. But of course +there is a fashion in cats, as in everything else. When I started +breeding blue Persians about fifteen years ago they were very scarce, +and I could easily get twenty-five dollars apiece for my kittens. Now +this variety is less sought after, and self-silvers, commonly called +chinchillas, are in demand." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS + + +The annual cat shows in England, which have been held successively for +more than a quarter of a century, led to the establishment in 1887 of a +National Cat Club, which has steadily grown in membership and interest, +and by the establishment of the National Stud Book and Register has +greatly raised the standard of felines in the mother country. It has +many well-known people as members, life members, or associates; and from +time to time people distinguished in the cat world have been added as +honorary members. + +The officers of the National Cat Club of England, since its +reconstruction in March, 1898, are as follows:-- + +_Presidents._--Her Grace the Duchess of Bedford; Lord Marcus +Beresford. + +_Vice-presidents._--Lily, Duchess of Marlborough, now Lady Wm. +Beresford; the Countess of Warwick; Lady Granville Gordon; Hon. Mrs. +McL. Morrison; Madame Ronner; Mr. Isaac Woodiwiss; the Countess of +Sefton; Lady Hothfield; the Hon. Mrs. Brett; Mr. Sam Woodiwiss; Mr. +H.W. Bullock. + +_President of Committee._--Mr. Louis Wain. + +_Committee_.--Lady Marcus Beresford; Mrs. Balding; Mr. Sidney +Woodiwiss; Mr. Hawkins; Mrs. Blair Maconochie; Mrs. Vallance; Mr. +Brackett; Mr. F. Gresham. + +_Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer_.--Mrs. Stennard Robinson. + +This club has a seal and a motto: "Beauty lives by kindness." It +publishes a stud book in which are registered pedigrees and championship +wins which are eligible for it. Only wins obtained from shows held under +N.C.C. rules are recorded free of charge. The fee for ordinary +registration is one shilling per cat, and the stud book is published +annually. There are over two thousand cats now entered in this National +Cat Club Stud Book, the form of entry being as follows (L.F. means +long-haired female; C.P., Crystal Palace):-- + + * * * * * + +No. 1593, Mimidatzi, L.F. Silver Tabby. + +Miss Anna F. Gardner, Hamswell House, near Bath, shown as Mimi. + +Bred by Miss How, Bridgeyate, near Bristol. Born April, 1893. Alive. + +Sire, Blue Boy the Great of Islington, 1090 (Mrs H.B. Thompson). + +Dam, Boots of Bridgeyate, 1225 (Miss How). + +Prizes won--1st Bilton, 2nd, C.P. 1893, Kitten Class. + + * * * * * + +No. 1225, Boots of Bridgeyate. L.F. Silver Tabby. + +Miss E. How, Bridgeyate House, Warmly, Bristol. + +Former owner, Mrs. Foote, 43 Palace Gardens, Kensington. + +Born March, 1892. Alive. + +Some of the cats entered have records of prizes covering nearly half a +page of the book. The advantage of such a book to cat owners can be +readily seen. A cat once entered never changes its number, no matter how +many owners he may have, and his name cannot be changed after December +31 of the year in which he is registered. + +The more important rules of the English National Cat Club are given in +condensed form as follows:-- + +The name is "The National Cat Club." + +_Objects_: To promote honesty in the breeding of cats, so as to +insure purity in each distinct breed or variety; to determine the +classification required, and to insure the adoption of such +classification by breeders, exhibitors, judges, and the committees of +all cat shows; to encourage showing and breeding by giving championship +and other prizes, and otherwise doing all in its power to protect and +advance the interest of cats and their owners. The National Cat Club +shall frame a separate set of rules for cat shows to be called "National +Cat Club Rules," and the committees of those cat shows to which the +rules are given, shall be called upon to sign a guarantee to the +National Cat Club binding them to provide good penning and effectual +sanitation, also to the punctual payment of prize money and to the +proper adjudication of prizes. + +_Stud Book_: The National Cat Club shall keep a stud book. + +_Neuter Classes_.--For gelded cats. + +_Kitten Classes_.--Single entries over three and under eight months. + +_Kitten Brace_.--Kittens of any age. + +_Brace_.--For two cats of any age. + +_Team_.--For three or more cats, any age. + + +In Paris, although cats have not been commonly appreciated as in +England, there is an increasing interest in them, and cat shows are now +a regular feature of the Jardin d'Acclimation. This suggests the subject +of the cat's social position in France. Since the Revolution the animal +has conquered in this country "_toutes les liberties_," excepting +that of wearing an entire tail, for in many districts it is the fashion +to cut the caudal appendage short. + +In Paris cats are much cherished wherever they can be without causing +too much unpleasantness with the landlord. The system of living in flats +is not favorable to cat culture, for the animal, not having access +either to the tiles above or to the gutter below, is apt to pine for +fresh air, and the society of its congeners. Probably in no other city +do these creatures lie in shop windows and on counters with such an +arrogant air of proprietorship. In restaurants, a very large and fat cat +is kept as an advertisement of the good feeding to be obtained on the +premises. There is invariably a cat in a _charbonnier's_ shop, and +the animal is generally one that was originally white, but long ago came +to the conclusion that all attempts to keep itself clean were hopeless. +Its only consolation is that it is never blacker than its master. It is +well known that the Persians and Angoras are much esteemed in Paris and +are, to some extent, bred for sale. In the provinces, French cats are +usually low-bred animals, with plebeian heads and tails, the stringlike +appearance of the latter not being improved by cropping. Although not +generally esteemed as an article of food in France, there are still many +people scattered throughout the country who maintain that a _civet de +chat_ is as good, or better, than a _civet de lievre_. + +M. Francois Coppee's fondness for cats as pets is so well known that +there was great fitness in placing his name first upon the jury of +awards at the 1896 cat show in Paris. Such other well-known men as Emile +Zola, Andre Theuriet, and Catulle Mendes, also figured on the list. +There is now an annual "Exposition Feline Internationale." + +In this country the first cat show of general interest was held at +Madison Square Garden, New York, in May, 1895. Some years before, there +had been a cat show under the auspices of private parties in Boston, and +several minor shows had been held at Newburgh, N.Y., and other places. +But the New York shows were the first to attract general attention. One +hundred and seventy-six cats were exhibited by one hundred and +twenty-five owners, besides several ocelots, wild cats, and civets. For +some reason the show at Madison Square Garden in March, 1896, catalogued +only one hundred and thirty-two cats and eighty-two owners. Since that +time there have been no large cat shows in New York. + +There have been several cat shows in Boston since 1896, but these are so +far only adjuncts to poultry and pigeon shows. Great interest has been +manifest in them, however, and the entries have each year run above a +hundred. Some magnificent cats are exhibited, although as a rule the +animals shown are somewhat small, many kittens being placed there for +sale by breeders. + +Several attempts to start successful cat clubs in this country have been +made. At the close of the New York show in 1896, an American Cat Club +was organized for the purpose "of investigating, ascertaining, and +keeping a record of the pedigrees of cats, and of instituting, +maintaining, controlling, and publishing a stud book, or book of +registry of such kind of domestic animals in the United States of +America and Canada, and of promoting and holding exhibitions of such +animals, and generally for the purpose of improving the breed thereof, +and educating the public in its knowledge of the various breeds and +varieties of cats." + +The officers were as follows:-- + +_President_.--Rush S. Huidekoper, 154 E. 57th St., New York City. + +_Vice-presidents_.--W.D. Mann, 208 Fifth Ave., New York City; Mrs. +E.N. Barker, Newburgh, N.Y. + +_Secretary-treasurer_.--James T. Hyde, 16 E. 23d St., New York City. + +_Executive Committee_.--T. Farrar Rackham, E. Orange, N.J.; Miss +Edith Newbold, Southampton, L.I.; Mrs. Harriet C. Clarke, 154 W. 82d +St., New York City; Charles R. Pratt, St. James Hotel, New York City; +Joseph W. Stray, 229 Division St., Brooklyn, N.Y. + +More successful than this club, however, is the Beresford Cat Club +formed in Chicago in the winter of 1899. The president is Mrs. Clinton +Locke, who is a member of the English cat clubs, and whose kennel in +Chicago contains some of the finest cats in America. The Beresford Cat +Club has the sanction of John G. Shortall, of the American Humane +Society, and on its honorary list are Miss Agnes Repplier, Madame +Ronner, Lady Marcus Beresford, Miss Helen Winslow, and Mr. Louis Wain. + +At their cat shows, which are held annually, prizes are offered for all +classes of cats, from the common feline of the back alley up to the +aristocratic resident of milady's boudoir. + +The Beresford Club Cat shows are the most successful of any yet given in +America. One hundred and seventy-eight prizes were awarded in the show +of January, 1900, and some magnificent cats were shown. It is said by +those who are in a position to know that there are no better cats shown +in England now than can be seen at the Beresford Show in Chicago. The +exhibits cover short and long haired cats of all colors, sizes, and +ages, with Siamese cats, Manx cats, and Russian cats. At the show in +January, 1900, Mrs. Clinton Locke exhibited fourteen cats of one color, +and Mrs. Josiah Cratty five white cats. This club numbers one hundred +and seventy members and has a social position and consequent strength +second to none in America. It is a fine, honorable club, which has for +its objects the protection of the Humane Society and the caring for all +cats reported as homeless or in distress. It aims also to establish +straightforward and honest dealings among the catteries and to do away +with the humbuggery which prevails in some quarters about the sales and +valuation of high-bred cats. This club cannot fail to be of great +benefit to such as want to carry on an honest industry by the raising +and sale of fine cats. It will also improve the breeding of cats in this +country, and thereby raise the standard and promote a more general +intelligence among the people with regard to cats. Some of the best +people in the United States belong to the Beresford Club, the membership +of which is by no means confined to Chicago; on the contrary, the club +is a national one and the officers and board of directors are:-- + +_President._--Mrs. Clinton Locke. + +_1st Vice-president._--Mrs W. Eames Colburn. + +_2d Vice-president._--Mrs. F.A. Howe. + +_Corresponding Secretary._--Mrs. Henry C. Clark. + +_Recording Secretary_.--Miss Lucy Claire Johnstone. + +_Treasurer_.--Mrs. Charles Hampton Lane. + +Mrs. Elwood H. Tolman. + +Mrs. J.H. Pratt. + +Mrs. Mattie Fisk Green. + +Mrs. F.A. Story. + +Miss Louise L. Fergus. + +The club is anxious to have members all over the United States, just as +the English cat clubs do. The non-resident annual fees are only one +dollar, and a member has to be proposed by one and endorsed by two other +members. The register cats for the stud book are entered at one dollar +each, and it is proposed to give shows once a year. The main objects of +the club are to improve the breeds of fancy cats in America, to awaken a +more general interest in them, and to secure better treatment for the +ordinary common cat. The shows will be given for the benefit of the +Humane Society. + +The Chicago Cat Club has done excellent work also, having established a +cat home, or refuge, for stray, homeless, or diseased cats, with a +department for boarding pet cats during the absence of their owners. It +is under the personal care and direction of Dr. C.A. White, 78 E. 26th +Street. The first cat to be admitted there was one from Cleveland, Ohio, +which was to be boarded for three months during the absence of its owner +in Europe and also to be treated for disease. This club was incorporated +under the state laws of Illinois, on January 26, 1899. In connection +with it is a children's cat club, which has for its primary object the +teaching of kindness to animals by awakening in the young people an +appreciative love for cats. At the show of the Chicago Cat Club, small +dogs and cavies are exhibited also, the Cavy Club and the Pet Dog Club +having affiliated with the Chicago Cat Club. + +The president of the Chicago Cat Club is Mrs. Leland Norton, of the +Drexel Kennels, at 4011 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago. The corresponding +secretary is Mrs. Laura Daunty Pelham, 315 Interocean Building, and the +other officers are: Vice-president, Miss Gertrude Estabrooks; recording +secretary, Miss Jennie Van Allen; and treasurer, Mrs. Ella B. Shepard. +Membership is only one dollar a year, and the registration fee in the +Chicago stud book fifty cents for each cat. + +The cat shows already held and the flourishing state of our cat clubs +have proved that America has as fine, if not finer, cats than can be +found in England, and that interest in finely bred cats is on the +increase in this country. The effect of the successful cat clubs and cat +shows must be to train intelligent judges and to raise the standard of +cats in this country. It will also tend to make the cat shows of such a +character that kind-hearted owners need not hesitate to enter their +choicest cats. As yet, however, the judging at cat shows is not so well +managed as in England. It should be a rule that the judges of cats +should not only understand their fine points, but should be in sympathy +with the little pets. + +Cat dealers who have a number of cats entered for competition, should +not be allowed on the board of judges. In England, the cats to be judged +are taken by classes into a tent for the purpose, and the door is +fastened against all but the judges; whereas over here the cats are too +often taken out of their cages in the presence of a crowd of spectators +and judged on a table or some public place, thereby frightening the +timid ones and bringing annoyance to the owners. + +Again, there should be several judges. In England there are seven, +including two or three women, and these are assigned to different +classes: Mr. Harrison Weir, F.R.H.S., the well-known authority on cats, +and Louis Wain, the well-known cat artist, are among them. In this +country there are a number of women who are not dealers, but who are +fully posted in the necessary qualifications for a high-bred cat. +American cat shows should have at least three judges, one of whom, at +least, should be a woman. A cat should be handled gently and kept as +calm as possible during the judging. Women are naturally more gentle in +their methods, and more tenderhearted. When my pets are entered for +competition, may some wise, kind woman have the judging of them! + +In judging a cat the quality and quantity of its fur is the first thing +considered. In a long-haired cat this includes the "lord mayor's chain," +or frill, the tail, and, most important of all, the ear-tufts. The tufts +between the toes and the flexibility of the tail are other important +points. The shape of head, eyes, and body are also carefully noted. A +short-haired cat is judged first for color, then for eyes, head, +symmetry, and ears. + +In all cats the head should show breadth between the eyes. The eyes +should be round and open. White cats to be really valuable should have +blue eyes (without deafness); black cats should have yellow eyes; other +cats should have pea-green eyes, or in some cases, as in the brown, +self-colored eyes. The nose should be short and tapering. The teeth +should be good, and the claws flat. The lower leg should be straight, +and the upper hind leg lie at closed angles. The foot should be small +and round (in the maltese, pointed). A good cat has a light frame, but a +deep chest; a slim, graceful, and fine neck; medium-sized ears with +rounded tips. The croup should be square and high; the tail of a +short-haired cat long and tapering, and of a long-haired cat broad and +bent over at the end. + +The good results of a cat show are best told in a few words by one who +has acted as judge at an American exhibition. + +"One year," he said, "people have to learn that there is such a thing as +a cat; the next they come to the show and learn to tell the different +breeds; another year they learn the difference between a good cat and a +poor one; and the next year they become exhibitors, and tell the judges +how to award the premiums." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN AMERICA + + +One of the first American women to start a "cattery" in this country was +Mrs. Clinton Locke, wife of the rector of Grace Church, Chicago. As a +clergyman's wife she has done a great deal of good among the various +charities of her city simply from the income derived from her kennels. +She has been very generous in gifts of her kittens to other women who +have made the raising of fine cats a means to add to a slender income, +and has sent beautiful cats all over the United States, to Mexico, and +even to Germany. Under her hospitable roof at 2825 Indiana Avenue is a +cat family of great distinction. First, there is The Beadle, a splendid +blue male with amber eyes, whose long pedigree appears in the third +volume of the N.C.C.S.B. under the number 1872, sired by Glaucus, +and his dam was Hawthorne Bounce. His pedigree is traced for many +generations. He was bred by Mrs. Dean of Hawthornedene, Slough, England. +The Beadle took first prize at the cat show held in Chicago in 1896. He +also had honorable mention at two cat shows in England when a kitten, +under the name of Bumble Bee. Lord Gwynne is a noble specimen, a +long-haired white cat with wonderful blue eyes. He was bred from +Champion Bundle, and his mother was out of The Masher, No. 1027, winner +of many championships. His former owner was Mrs. Davies, of Upper +Cattesham. Mrs. Locke purchased him from A.A. Clarke, one of the best +judges of cats in England. Lord Gwynne took a prize at the Brighton Cat +Show in England in 1895, as a kitten. The father of The Beadle's mate, +Rosalys, was the famous "Bluebeard." + +Mrs. Locke's chinchillas are the finest ones in this country. Atossa, +the mother cat, has a wonderful litter of kittens. She was bred to Lord +Argent, one of the three celebrated stud chinchillas in England. She +arrived in this country in July, and ten days after gave birth to her +foreign kittens. One of the kittens has been sold to Mrs. Dr. +Forsheimer, of Cincinnati, and another to Mrs. W.E. Colburn, of South +Chicago. The others Mrs. Locke will not part with at any price. + +Smerdis, the grand chinchilla male brought over as a future mate for +Atossa, is a royal cat. He looks as though he had run away from Bengal, +but, like all of Mrs. Locke's cats, he is gentle and loving. He is the son +of Lord Southampton, the lightest chinchilla stud in England (N.C.C.S.B. +1690), and his mother is Silver Spray, No. 1542. His maternal grandparents +are Silver King and Harebell, and his great-grandparents Perso and +Beauty,--all registered cats. On his father's side a pedigree of three +generations can be traced. One of her more recent importations is Lord +Gwynne's mate, Lady Mertice, a beautiful long-haired cat with blue eyes. +Other famous cats of hers have been Bettina, Nora, Doc, Vashti, Marigold, +Grover, and Wendell. + +One of Mrs Locke's treasures is a _bona fide_ cat mummy, brought by +Mrs. Locke from Egypt. It has been verified at the Gizeh Museum to be +four thousand years old. + +It is fully twenty-five years since Mrs. Locke began to turn her +attention to fine cats, and when she imported her first cat to Chicago +there was only one other in the United States. That one was Mrs. Edwin +Brainard's Madam, a wonderful black, imported from Spain. Her first +long-haired cat was Wendell, named for the friend who brought him from +Persia, and his descendants are now in the Lockehaven Cattery. Queen +Wendella is one of the most famous cats in America to-day, and mother of +the beautiful Lockehaven Quartette. These are all descended from the +first Wendell. The kittens in the Lockehaven Quartette went to Mrs. S.S. +Leach, Bonny Lea, New London, Ct.; Miss Lucy Nichols, Ben Mahr Cattery, +Waterbury, Ct.; Miss Olive Watson, Warrensburg, Pa.; and Mrs. B.M. +Gladding, at Memphis, Tenn, Mrs. Locke's Lord Argent, descended from +Atossa and the famous Lord Argent, of England, is a magnificent cat, +while her Smerdis is the son of the greatest chinchillas in the world. +Rosalys II, now owned by Mr. C.H. Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., was once her +cat, and was the daughter of Rosalys (owned by Miss Nichols, of +Waterbury, Ct), who was a granddaughter of the famous Bluebeard, of +England. These, with the beautiful brown tabby, Crystal, owned by Mr. +Jones, have all been prize winners. Lucy Claire is a recent importation, +who won second and third prizes in England under the name of Baby +Flossie. She is the daughter of Duke of Kent and Topso, of Merevale. Her +paternal grandparents are Mrs. Herring's well-known champion, Blue Jack, +and Marney. The maternal grandparents are King Harry, a prize winner at +Clifton and Brighton, and Fluff. + +Mrs. Locke's cats are all imported. She has sometimes purchased cats +from Maine or elsewhere for people who did not care to pay the price +demanded for her fine kittens, but she has never had in her own cattery +any cats of American origin. Her stock, therefore, is probably the +choicest in America. She always has from twenty to twenty-five cats, and +the cat-lover who obtains one of her kittens is fortunate indeed. A +beautiful pair of blacks in Mrs. Locke's cattery have the most desirable +shade of amber eyes, and are named "Blackbird" and "St. Tudno"; she has +also a choice pair of Siamese cats called "Siam" and "Sally Ward." + +Mrs. Josiah Cratty, of Oak Park, has a cattery called the "Jungfrau +Katterie," and her cats are remarkably beautiful. Her Bartimaeus and +True Blue are magnificent white cats, sired by Mrs. Locke's Lord Gwynne. + +Miss L.C. Johnstone, of Chicago, has some of the handsomest cats in the +country. Cherie is a wonderful blue shaded cat; Lord Humm is a splendid +brown tabby; while Beauty Belle is an exceedingly handsome white cat. +Miss Johnstone takes great pains with her cats, and is rewarded by +having them rated among the best in America. + +Some of the beautiful cats which have been sent from Chicago to homes +elsewhere are Teddy Roosevelt, a magnificent white, sired by Mrs. W.E. +Colburn's Paris, and belonging to Mrs. L. Kemp, of Huron, S. Dak.; +Silver Dick, a gorgeous buff and white, whose grandmother was Mrs. +Colburn's Caprice, and who is owned by Mrs. Porter L. Evans, of East St. +Louis; Toby, a pure white with green eyes, owned by Mrs. Elbert W. +Shirk, of Indianapolis; and Amytis, a chinchilla belonging to Mrs. S.S. +Leach, of New London, sired by Mrs. Locke's Smerdis, and the daughter of +Rosalys II. + +Miss Cora Wallace, of East Brady, Pa., has Lord Ruffles, son of the +first Rosalys and The Beadle, formerly Bumble Bee. Mrs. Fisk Greene, of +Chicago, now owns a beautiful cat in Bumble Bee, and another in Miss +Merrylegs, a blue with golden eyes, the daughter of Bumble Bee and Black +Sapho. The Misses Peacock, of Topeka, have a pair of whites called +Prince Hilo and Rosebud, the latter having blue eyes. Mrs. Frederick +Monroe, of Riverside, Ill., owns a remarkable specimen of a genuine +Russian cat, a perfect blue of extraordinary size. Miss Elizabeth +Knight, of Milwaukee, has a beautiful silver tabby, Winifred, the +daughter of Whychwood, Miss Kate Loraine Gage's celebrated silver tabby, +of Brewster, N.Y. The most perfect "lavender blue" cat belongs to Miss +Lucy E. Nichols, of Waterbury, Ct., and is named Roscal. He has +beautiful long fur, with a splendid ruff and tail, and is a son of +Rosalys and The Beadle. + +Mrs. Leland Norton has a number of magnificent cats. It was she who +adopted Miss Frances Willard's "Tootsie," the famous cat which made two +thousand dollars for the temperance cause. Miss Nella B. Wheatley has +very fine kennels, and raises some beautiful cats. Her Taffy is a +beautiful buff and white Angora, which has been very much admired. Her +cats have been sold to go to many other cities. Speaking from her own +experience Miss Wheatley says, "Raising Angoras is one of the most +fascinating of employments, and I have found, when properly taken care +of, they are among the most beautiful, strong, intelligent, and playful +of all animals." + +Mrs. W.E. Colburn is another very successful owner of cat kennels. She +has had some of the handsomest cats in this country, among which are +"Paris," a magnificent white cat with blue eyes, and his mother, +"Caprice," who has borne a number of wonderfully fine pure white Angoras +with the most approved shade of blue eyes. Her cattery is known as the +"Calumet Kennel," and there is no better judge of cats in the country +than Mrs. Colburn. + +So much has been said of the cats which were "mascots" on the ships +during the Cuban War that it is hardly necessary to speak of them. Tom, +the mascot of the _Maine_, and Christobal have been shown in +several cities of the Union since the war. + +The most beautiful collection of brown tabbies is owned by Mr. C.H. +Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., who has the "Crystal Cattery." Crystal, the son +of Mrs. E.M. Barker's "King Humbert," is the champion brown tabby of +America, and is a magnificent creature, of excellent disposition and +greatly admired by cat fanciers everywhere. Mona Liza, his mate, and +Goozie and Bubbles make up as handsome a quartet of this variety as one +could wish to see. Goozie's tail is now over twelve inches in +circumference. Mr. Jones keeps about twenty fine cats in stock all the +time. + +The most highly valued cat in America is Napoleon the Great, whose owner +has refused four thousand dollars for him. A magnificent fellow he is +too, with his bushy orange fur and lionlike head. He is ten years old +and weighs twenty-three pounds, which is a remarkable weight in a male +cat, only gelded ones ordinarily running above fifteen pounds. Napoleon +was bred by a French nobleman, and was born at the Chateau +Fontainebleau, near Paris, in 1888. He is a pure French Angora, which is +shown by his long crinkly hair--so long that it has to be frequently +clipped to preserve the health and comfort of the beautiful creature. +This clipping is what causes the uneven quality of fur which appears in +his picture. His mother was a famous cat, and his grandmother was one of +the grandest dams of France (no pun intended). The latter lived to be +nineteen years old, and consequently Napoleon the Great is regarded by +his owners as a mere youth. He has taken first prizes and medals +wherever he has been exhibited, and at Boston, 1897, won the silver cup +offered for the best cat in the exhibition. + +Another fine cat belonging to Mrs. Weed, is Marguerite, mother of Le +Noir, a beautiful black Angora, sired by Napoleon the Great and owned by +Mrs. Weed. Juno is Napoleon's daughter, born in 1894, and is valued at +fifteen hundred dollars. When she was seven months old her owners +refused two hundred dollars for her. She is a tortoise-shell and white +French Angora, and a remarkably beautiful creature. All these cats are +great pets, and are allowed the freedom of the house and barns, although +when they run about the grounds there is always a man in attendance. Six +or seven thousand dollars' worth of cats sporting on the lawn together +is a rich sight, but not altogether without risk. + +Mrs. Fabius M. Clarke's "Persia," a beautiful dark chinchilla, is one of +the finest cats in this country. She began her career by taking special +and first prizes at Fastmay's Cat Show in England, as the best long-haired +kitten. She also took the first prize as a kitten at Lancashire, and at +the National Cat Show in New York in 1895. She was bred in England; sire, +King of Uhn; dam, Brunette, of pure imported Persian stock. Mrs. Clarke +brought her home in January, 1895, and she is still worshipped as a family +pet at her New York home. "Sylvio" was also brought over at the same time. +He was a beautiful long-haired male silver tabby, and bred by Mrs. A.F. +Gardner. Sylvio was sired by the famous Topso of Dingley (owned by Miss +Leake), famous as the best long-haired tabby in England. Sylvio's mother +was Mimidatzi, whose pedigree is given in the previous chapter. "Mimi's" +sire was the champion Blue Boy the Great, whose mother was Boots of +Bridgeyate, whose pedigree is also given in the extract from the stud +book. Sylvio took a first prize at the New York Show, 1895, but +unfortunately was poisoned before he was a year old. This seems the +greater pity, because he had a remarkably fine pedigree, and gave promise +of being one of the best cats America has yet seen. + +Persia is a handsome specimen of the fine blue chinchilla class. She is +quiet, amiable, and shows her high breeding in her good manners and +intelligence. Her tail is like a fox's brush, and her ruff gladdens the +heart of every cat fancier that beholds her. She is an aristocratic +little creature, and seems to feel that she comes of famous foreign +ancestry. Mrs. Clarke makes great pets of her beautiful cats, and trains +them to do many a cunning trick. + +Another cat which has won several prizes, and took the silver bowl +offered for the best cat and litter of kittens in the 1895 cat show of +New York is Ellen Terry, a handsome orange and white, exhibited by Mrs. +Fabius M. Clarke. At that show she had seven beautiful kittens, and they +all reposed in a dainty white and yellow basket with the mother, +delighting the hearts of all beholders. She now belongs to Mrs. Brian +Brown, of Brooklyn. She is a well-bred animal, with a pretty face and +fine feathering. One of the kittens who won the silver bowl in 1895 took +the second prize for long-haired white female in New York, in March, +1896. She is a beautiful creature, known as Princess Dinazarde, and +belongs to Mrs. James S.H. Umsted, of New York. + +Sylvia is still in Mrs. Clarke's possession, and is a beautiful +creature, dainty, refined, and very jealous of her mistress's affection. +Mrs. Clarke also owns a real Manx cat, brought from the Isle of Man by +Captain McKenzie. It acts like a monkey, climbing up on mantels and +throwing down pictures and other small objects, in the regular monkey +spirit of mischief. It has many queer attributes, and hops about like a +rabbit. She also owns Sapho, who was bred by Ella Wheeler Wilcox from +her Madame Ref and Mr. Stevens's Ajax, an uncommonly handsome white +Angora. + +The sire of Topso and Sylvia was Musjah, owned by Mr. Ferdinand Danton, +a New York artist. He was a magnificent creature, imported from Algiers +in 1894; a pure blue Persian of uncommon size and beautiful coloring. +Musjah was valued at two hundred dollars, but has been stolen from Mr. +Danton. Probably his present owner will not exhibit him at future cat +shows. + +Ajax is one of the finest white Angoras in this country. His owner, Mr. +D.W. Stevens, of West-field, Mass., has refused five hundred dollars for +him, and would not consider one thousand dollars as a fair exchange for +the majestic creature. He was born in 1893, and is valued, not only for +his fine points, but because he is a family pet, with a fine disposition +and uncommon intelligence. At the New York show in 1895, and at several +other shows, he has won first prizes. + +One of his sons bids fair to be as fine a cat as Ajax. This is Sampson, +bred by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Madame Ref, and owned by Mrs. Brian +Brown. Mr. Stevens has a number of other high-bred cats, one of whom is +Raby, a reddish black female, with a red ruff. Another is Lady, who is +pure white; and then there are Monkey and Midget, who are black and +white Angoras. All of these cats are kept in a pen, half of which is +within the barn, and the other half out of doors and enclosed by wire +netting. Ajax roams over the house at will, and the others pass some of +the time there, but the entire collection, sometimes numbering +twenty-five, is too valuable to be given the freedom of all outdoors. +Both Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are very fond of cats, and have made a study +of them in sickness and health. Some years ago, a malicious raid was +made on the pen, and every cat poisoned with the exception of Raby, +whose life was saved only by frequent and generous doses of skunk's oil +and milk. + +At the first New York show, Miss Ethel Nesmith Anderson's Chico, an +imported Persian, took the second prize, after Ajax, in the pure white, +longhaired class. The third prize was won by Snow, another imported +Angora, belonging to Mr. George A. Rawson, of Newton, Mass. Snow had +already taken a prize at Crystal Palace. He is a magnificent animal. Mr. +Rawson owns a number of beautiful cats, which are the pride of his +family, and bring visitors from all parts of the country. His +orange-colored, long-haired Dandy won first prizes at the Boston shows +of 1896 and 1897 in the gelded class. He is beautifully marked, and has +a disposition as "childlike and bland" as the most exacting owner could +wish. Miss Puff is also owned by Mr. Rawson, and presents him with +beautiful white Angora kittens every year. The group of ten white +kittens, raised by him in 1896, gives some idea of the beauty of these +kittens: although the picture was taken with a high wind blowing in +their faces, causing one white beauty to conceal all marks of +identification except an ear, and another to hide completely behind his +playmates. + +Mustapha was entered by Dr. Huidekoper in the first New York show, but +not for competition. He was a magnificent brindled Persian gelded cat, +six years old, who enjoyed the plaudits of the multitude just as well as +though he had taken first prize. He was very fond of his master, but +very shy with strangers when at home. He slept on the library desk, or a +cushion next his master's bed whenever he could be alone with the +doctor, but at other times preferred his own company or that of the +cook. + +Another cat that attracted a great deal of attention was Master Pettet's +Tommy, a white Persian, imported in 1889 and valued at five hundred +dollars, although no money consideration could induce his owners to part +with him. He was brought from the interior of Persia, where he was +captured in a wild state. He was kept caged for over a year, and would +not be tamed; but at last he became domesticated, and is now one of the +dearest pets imaginable. His fur is extremely long and soft, without a +colored hair. His tail is broad and carried proudly aloft, curling over +toward his back when walking. His face is full of intelligence: his ears +well-tipped and feathered, and his ruff a thing of beauty and a joy +forever. + +King Max, a long-haired, black male, weighing thirteen pounds at the age +of one year, and valued at one thousand dollars, took first prizes in +Boston in January, 1897, '98, and '99. He is owned by Mrs. E.R. Taylor, +of Medford, Mass., and attracts constant attention during shows. His fur +is without a single white hair and is a finger deep; his ruff encircles +his head like a great aureole. He is not only one of the most beautiful +cats I have ever seen, but one of the best-natured: as his reputation +for beauty spreads among visitors at the show, everybody wants to see +him, and he has no chance at all for naps. Generally he is brought +forward and taken from his cage a hundred times a day; but not once does +he show the least sign of ill-temper, and even on the last day of the +show he keeps up a continual low purr of content and happiness. Perhaps +he knows how handsome he is. + +Grover B., the Mascotte, is a Philadelphia cat who took the twenty-five +dollar gold medal in 1895, at the New York show, as the heaviest white +cat exhibited. He belongs to Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Buchanan, and weighs over +twenty pounds. He is a thoroughbred, and is valued at one thousand +dollars, having been brought from the Isle of Malta, and he wears a +one-hundred-dollar gold collar. He is a remarkable cat, noted +particularly for his intelligence and amiability. He is very dainty in +his choice of food, and prefers to eat his dinners in his high chair at +the table. He has a fascinating habit of feeding himself with his paws. +He is very talkative just before meal-times, and is versed in all the +feline arts of making one's self understood. He waits at the front door +for his master every night, and will not leave him all the evening. He +sleeps in a bed of his own, snugly wrapped up in blankets, and he is +admired by all who know him, not more for his beauty than for his +excellent deportment. He furnishes one more proof that a properly +trained and well-cared-for cat has a large amount of common sense and +appreciation. + +Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's tiger cat Dick attracted a great deal of +attention at the first New York show. He weighs twenty-two pounds and is +three feet long, with a girth of twenty-four inches; and he has attained +some degree of prominence in her writings. + +A trio of cats that were a centre of attraction at that first show +belonged to Colonel Mann, of _Town Topics_. They were jet black, +and rejoiced in the names of Taffy, The Laird, and Little Billee. They +took a first prize, but two of them have since come to an untimely end. +Colonel Mann is a devoted lover of animals, and has given a standing +order that none of his employees shall, if they see a starving kitten on +the street, leave it to suffer and die. Accordingly his office is a sort +of refuge for unfortunate cats, and one may always see a number of +happy-looking creatures there, who seem to appreciate the kindness which +surrounds them. The office is in a fifth story overlooking Fifth Avenue: +and the cats used to crawl out on the wide window-ledge in summer-time +and enjoy the air and the view of Madison Square. But alas! The Laird +and Little Billee came to their deaths by jumping from their high perch +after sparrows and falling to the pavement below. Now there is a strong +wire grating across the windows, and Taffy, a monstrous, shiny black +fellow, is the leader in the "_Town Topics_ Colony." + +Dr. H.L. Hammond, of Killingly, Ct., makes a speciality of the rare +Australian cats, and has taken numerous prizes with them at every cat +show in this country, where they are universally admired. His Columbia +is valued at six hundred dollars, and his Tricksey at five hundred +dollars. They are, indeed, beautiful creatures, though somewhat unique +in the cat world, as we see it. They are very sleek cats, with fur so +short, glossy, and fine that it looks like the finest satin. Their heads +are small and narrow, with noses that seem pointed when compared with +other cats. They are very intelligent and affectionate little creatures, +and make the loveliest of pets. Dr. and Mrs. Hammond are extremely fond +of their unusual and valuable cat family,--and tell the most interesting +tales of their antics and habits. His Columbia was an imported cat, and +the doctor has reason to believe that she with her mate are originally +from the Siamese cat imported from Siam to Australia. They are all very +delicate as kittens, the mother rarely having more than one at a time. +With two exceptions, these cats have never had more than two kittens at +a litter. They are very partial to heat, but cannot stand cold weather. +They have spells of sleeping when nothing has power to disturb them, but +when they do wake up they have a "high time," running and playing. They +are affectionate, being very fond of their owner, but rather shy with +strangers. They are uncommonly intelligent, too, and are very teachable +when young. They are such beautiful creatures, besides being rare in +this part of the world, that it is altogether probable that they will be +much sought after as pets. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY + + +As far back as the ninth century, a poem on a cat was written, which has +come down to us from the Arabic. Its author was Ibn Alalaf Alnaharwany, +of Bagdad, who died in 318 A.H. or A.D. 930. He was one of the better +known poets of the khalifate, and his work may still be found in the +original. The following verses, which were translated by Dr. Carlyle, +are confessedly a paraphrase rather than a strict translation; but, of +course, the sense is the same. Commentators differ on the question as to +whether the poet really meant anything more in this poem than to sing of +the death of a pet, and some have tried to ascribe to it a hidden +meaning which implies beautiful slaves, lovers, and assignations; just +as the wise Browning student discovers meanings in that great poet's +works of which he never dreamed. Nevertheless, we who love cats are fain +to believe that this follower of Mahomet meant only to celebrate the +merits--perhaps it would hardly do to call them virtues--of his beloved +cat. + +The lines are inscribed,-- + + ON A CAT + + THAT WAS KILLED AS SHE WAS ATTEMPTING TO ROB A DOVE-HOUSE + + BY IBN ALALAF ALNAHARWANY + + + Poor Puss is gone!--'tis Fate's decree-- + Yet I must still her loss deplore; + For dearer than a child was she, + And ne'er shall I behold her more! + + With many a sad, presaging tear, + This morn I saw her steal away, + While she went on without a fear, + Except that she should miss her prey. + + I saw her to the dove-house climb, + With cautious feet and slow she stept, + Resolved to balance loss of time + By eating faster than she crept. + + Her subtle foes were on the watch, + And marked her course, with fury fraught; + And while she hoped the birds to catch, + An arrow's point the huntress caught. + + In fancy she had got them all, + And drunk their blood and sucked their breath; + Alas! she only got a fall, + And only drank the draught of death. + + Why, why was pigeon's flesh so nice, + That thoughtless cats should love it thus? + Hadst thou but lived on rats and mice, + Thou hadst been living still, poor Puss! + + Cursed be the taste, howe'er refined, + That prompts us for such joys to wish; + And cursed the dainty where we find + Destruction lurking in the dish. + + +Among the poets, Pussy has always found plenty of friends. Her feline +grace and softness has inspired some of the greatest, and, from Tasso +and Petrarch down, her quiet and dignified demeanor have been celebrated +in verse. Mr. Swinburne, within a few years, has written a charming poem +which was published in the _Athenaeum_, and which places the writer +among the select inner circle of true cat-lovers. He calls his verses-- + + TO A CAT + + Stately, kindly, lordly friend, + Condescend + Here to sit by me, and turn + Glorious eyes that smile and burn, + Golden eyes, love's lustrous meed, + On the golden page I read. + + * * * * * + + Dogs may fawn on all and some + As they come: + You a friend of loftier mind, + Answer friends alone in kind. + Just your foot upon my hand + Softly bids it understand. + + +Thomas Gray's poem on the death of Robert Walpole's cat, which was +drowned in a bowl of goldfish, was greatly prized by the latter; after +the death of the poet the bowl was placed on a pedestal at Strawberry +Hill, with a few lines from the poem as an inscription. In a letter +dated March 1, 1747, accompanying it, Mr. Gray says:-- + +"As one ought to be particularly careful to avoid blunders in a +compliment of condolence, it would be a sensible satisfaction to me +(before I testify my sorrow and the sincere part I take in your +misfortune) to know for certain who it is I lament. [Note the 'Who.'] I +knew Zara and Selima (Selima was it, or Fatima?), or rather I knew them +both together, for I cannot justly say which was which. Then, as to your +handsome cat, the name you distinguish her by, I am no less at a loss, +as well knowing one's handsome cat is always the cat one likes best; or +if one be alive and the other dead, it is usually the latter that is the +handsomest. Besides, if the point were never so clear, I hope you do not +think me so ill bred or so imprudent as to forfeit all my interest in +the survivor. Oh, no; I would rather seem to mistake and imagine, to be +sure, it must be the tabby one that had met with this sad accident. Till +this affair is a little better determined, you will excuse me if I do +not cry, 'Tempus inane peto, requiem, spatiumque doloris.'" + +He closes the letter by saying, "There's a poem for you; it is rather +too long for an epitaph." And then the familiar-- + + "'Twas on a lofty vase's side, + Where China's gayest art had dy'd + The azure flowers that blow: + Demurest of the tabby kind, + The pensive Selima, reclined, + Gazed on the lake below." + + +Wordsworth's "Kitten and the Falling Leaves," is in the high, moralizing +style. + + "That way look, my Infant, lo! + What a pretty baby show. + See the kitten on the wall, + Sporting with the leaves that fall, + + * * * * * + + "But the kitten, how she starts, + Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts + First at one and then its fellow, + Just as light and just as yellow: + There are many now--now one, + Now they stop, and there are none. + What intentness of desire + In her upward eye of fire! + With a tiger-leap halfway + Now she meets the coming prey, + Lets it go as fast, and then + Has it in her power again: + Now she works with three or four. + Like an Indian conjuror: + Quick as he in feats of art, + Far beyond in joy of heart. + Were her antics played in the eye + Of a thousand standers-by, + Clapping hands with shout and stare, + What would little Tabby care + For the plaudits of the crowd? + Over happy to be proud, + Over wealthy in the treasure + Of her own exceeding pleasure. + + * * * * * + + "Pleased by any random toy: + By a kitten's busy joy, + Or an infant's laughing eye + Sharing in the ecstacy: + I would fain like that or this + Find my wisdom in my bliss: + Keep the sprightly soul awake, + And have faculties to take, + Even from things by sorrow wrought, + Matter for a jocund thought, + Spite of care and spite of grief, + To gambol with life's falling leaf." + + +Cowper's love for animals was well known. At one time, according to Lady +Hesketh, he had besides two dogs, two goldfinches, and two canaries, +five rabbits, three hares, two guinea-pigs, a squirrel, a magpie, a jay, +and a starling. In addition he had, at least, one cat, for Lady Hesketh +says, "One evening the cat giving one of the hares a sound box on the +ear, the hare ran after her, and having caught her, punished her by +drumming on her back with her two feet hard as drumsticks, till the +creature would actually have been killed had not Mrs. Unwin rescued +her." It might have been this very cat that was the inspiration of +Cowper's poem, "To a Retired Cat," which had as a moral the familiar +stanza:-- + + "Beware of too sublime a sense + Of your own worth and consequence: + The man who dreams himself so great + And his importance of such weight, + That all around, in all that's done, + Must move and act for him alone, + Will learn in school of tribulation + The folly of his expectation." + + +Baudelaire wrote:-- + + "Come, beauty, rest upon my loving heart, + But cease thy paws' sharp-nailed play, + And let me peer into those eyes that dart + Mixed agate and metallic ray." + + * * * * * + + "Grave scholars and mad lovers all admire + And love, and each alike, at his full tide + Those suave and puissant cats, the fireside's pride, + Who like the sedentary life and glow of fire." + + +Goldsmith also wrote of the kitten:-- + + "Around in sympathetic mirth + Its tricks the kitten tries: + The cricket chirrups in the hearth, + The crackling fagot flies." + + +Does this not suggest a charming glimpse of the poet's English home? + +Keats was evidently not acquainted with the best and sleekest pet cat, +and his "Sonnet to a Cat" does not indicate that he fully appreciated +their higher qualities. + +Mr. Whittier, our good Quaker poet, while not attempting an elaborate +sonnet or stilted elegiac, shows a most appreciative spirit in the lines +he wrote for a little girl who asked him one day, with tears in her +eyes, to write an epitaph for her lost Bathsheba. + + "Bathsheba: To whom none ever said scat, + No worthier cat + Ever sat on a mat + Or caught a rat: + _Requies-cat_." + + +Clinton Scollard, however, has given us an epitaph that many +sympathizing admirers would gladly inscribe on the tombstones of their +lost pets, if it were only the popular fashion to put tombstones over +their graves. This is Mr. Scollard's tribute, the best ever written:-- + + GRIMALKIN + + AN ELEGY ON PETER, AGED TWELVE + + In vain the kindly call: in vain + The plate for which thou once wast fain + At morn and noon and daylight's wane, + O King of mousers. + No more I hear thee purr and purr + As in the frolic days that were, + When thou didst rub thy velvet fur + Against my trousers. + + How empty are the places where + Thou erst wert frankly debonair, + Nor dreamed a dream of feline care, + A capering kitten. + The sunny haunts where, grown a cat, + You pondered this, considered that, + The cushioned chair, the rug, the mat, + By firelight smitten. + + Although of few thou stoodst in dread, + How well thou knew a friendly tread, + And what upon thy back and head + The stroking hand meant. + A passing scent could keenly wake + Thy eagerness for chop or steak, + Yet, Puss, how rarely didst thou break + The eighth commandment. + + Though brief thy life, a little span + Of days compared with that of man, + The time allotted to thee ran + In smoother metre. + Now with the warm earth o'er thy breast, + O wisest of thy kind and best, + Forever mayst thou softly rest, + _In pace_, Peter. + + +One only has to read this poem to feel that Mr. Scollard knew what it is +to love a gentle, intelligent, affectionate cat--made so by kind +treatment. + +To Francois Coppee the cat is as sacred as it was to the Egyptians of +old. The society of his feline pets is to him ever delightful and +consoling, and it may have inspired him to write some of his most +melodious verses. Nevertheless he is not the cat's poet. It was Charles +Cros who wrote:-- + + "Chatte blanche, chatte sans tache, + Je te demande dans ces vers + Quel secret dort dans tes yeux verts, + Quel sarcasme sous ta moustache?" + + +Here is a version in verse of the famous "Kilkenny Cats":-- + + "O'Flynn, she was an Irishman, as very well was known, + And she lived down in Kilkenny, and she lived there all alone, + With only six great large tom-cats that knowed their ways about; + And everybody else besides she scrupulously shut out." + + "Oh, very fond of cats was she, and whiskey, too, 'tis said, + She didn't feed 'em very much, but she combed 'em well instead: + As may be guessed, these large tom-cats did not get very sleek + Upon a combing once a day and a 'haporth' once a week. + + "Now, on one dreary winter's night O'Flynn she went to bed + With a whiskey bottle under her arm, the whiskey in her head. + The six great large tom-cats they all sat in a dismal row, + And horridly glared their hazy eyes, their tails wagged to and fro. + + "At last one grim graymalkin spoke, in accents dire to tell, + And dreadful were the words which in his horrid whisper fell: + And all the six large tom-cats in answer loud did squall, + 'Let's kill her, and let's eat her, body, bones, and all.' + + "Oh, horrible! Oh, terrible! Oh, deadly tale to tell! + When the sun shone through the window-hole all seemed still and well: + The cats they sat and licked their paws all in a merry ring. + But nothing else in all the house looked like a living thing. + + "Anon they quarrelled savagely--they spit, they swore, they hollered: + At last these six great large tom-cats they one another swallered: + And naught but one long tail was left in that once peaceful dwelling, + And a very tough one, too, it was--it's the same that I've been telling." + + +By far more artistic is the version for which I am indebted to Miss +Katharine Eleanor Conway, herself a poet of high order and a lover of +cats. + +THE KILKENNY CATS + + There wanst was two cats in Kilkenny, + Aitch thought there was one cat too many; + So they quarrelled and fit, + They scratched and they bit, + Till, excepting their nails, + And the tips of their tails, + Instead of two cats, there wasn't any. + + +This version comes from Ireland, and is doubtless the correct original. + +"Note," says Miss Conway, "the more than Greek delicacy with which the +tragedy is told. No mutilation, no gore; just an effacement--prompt and +absolute--'there wasn't any.' It would be hard to overpraise that fine +touch." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS + + +While thousands of artists, first and last, have undertaken to paint +cats, there are but few who have been able to do them justice. Artists +who have possessed the technical skill requisite to such delicate work +have rarely been willing to give to what they have regarded as +unimportant subjects the necessary study; and those who have been +willing to study cats seriously have possessed but seldom the skill +requisite to paint them well. + +Thomas Janvier, whose judgment on such matters is unquestioned, declares +that not a dozen have succeeded in painting thoroughly good cat +portraits, portraits so true to nature as to satisfy--if they could +express their feelings in the premises--the cat subjects and their cat +friends. Only four painters, he says, ever painted cats habitually and +always well. + +Two members of this small but highly distinguished company flourished +about a century ago in widely separated parts of the world, and without +either of them knowing that the other existed. + +One was a Japanese artist, named Ho-Kou-Say, whose method of painting, +of course, was quite unlike that to which we are accustomed in this +western part of the world, but who had a wonderful faculty for making +his queer little cat figures seem intensely alive. + +The other was a Swiss artist, named Gottfried Mind, whose cat pictures +are so perfect in their way that he came to be honorably known as "the +Cat Raphael." + +The other two members of the cat quartet are the French artist, Monsieur +Louis Eugene Lambert, whose pictures are almost as well known in this +country as they are in France; and the Dutch artist, Madame Henriette +Ronner, whose delightful cat pictures are known even better, as she +catches the softer and sweeter graces of the cat more truly than +Lambert. + +A thoroughly good picture of a cat is hard to paint, from a technical +standpoint, because the artist must represent not only the soft surface +of fur, but the underlying hard lines of muscle: and his studies must be +made under conditions of cat perversity which are at times quite enough +to drive him wild. If he is to represent the cat in repose, he must wait +for her to take that position of her own accord; and then, just as his +sketch is well under way, she is liable to rise, stretch herself, and +walk off. If his picture is to represent action, he must wait for the +cat to do what he wants her to do, and that many times before he can be +quite sure that his drawing is correct. With these severe limitations +upon cat painting, it is not surprising that very few good pictures of +cats have been painted. + +Gottfried Mind has left innumerable pen sketches to prove his intimate +knowledge of the beauty and charm of the cat. He was born at Berne in +1768. He had a special taste for drawing animals even when very young, +bears and cats being his favorite subjects. As he grew older he obtained +a wonderful proficiency, and his cat pictures appeared with every +variety of expression. Their silky coats, their graceful attitudes, +their firm shape beneath the undulating fur, were treated so as to make +Mind's cats seem alive. + +It was Madame Lebrun who named him the "Raphael of Cats," and many a +royal personage bought his pictures. He, like most cat painters, kept +his cats constantly with him, knowing that only by persistent and never +tiring study could he ever hope to master their infinite variety. His +favorite mother cat kept closely at his side when he worked, or perhaps +in his lap; while her kittens ran over him as fearlessly as they played +with their mother's tail. When a terrible epidemic broke out among the +cats of Berne in 1809, he hid his Minette safely from the police, but he +never quite recovered from the horror of the massacre of the eight +hundred that had to be sacrificed for the general safety of the people. +He died in 1814, and in poverty, although a few years afterward his +pictures brought extravagant prices. + +Burbank, the English painter, has done some good things in cat pictures. +The expression of the face and the peculiar light in the cat's eye made +up the realism of Burbank's pictures, which were reproductions of sleek +and handsome drawing-room pets, whose shining coats he brings out with +remarkable precision. + +The ill-fated Swiss artist Cornelius Wisscher's marvellous tom-cat has +become typical. + +Delacroix, the painter of tigers, was a man of highly nervous +temperament, but his cat sketches bring out too strongly the tigerish +element to be altogether successful. + +Louis Eugene Lambert was a pupil of Delacroix. He was born in Paris, +September 25, 1825, and the chief event of his youth was, perhaps, the +great friendship which existed between him and Maurice Sands. Entomology +was a fad with him for a time, but he finally took up his serious +life-work in 1854, when he began illustrating for the _Journal of +Agriculture_. In connection with his work, he began to study animals +carefully, making dogs his specialty. In 1862 he illustrated an edition +of La Fontaine, and in 1865 he obtained his first medal for a painting +of dogs. In 1866 his painting of cats, "L'Horloge qui avance," won +another medal, and brought his first fame as a cat painter. In 1874 he +was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. His "Envoi" in 1874, "Les +Chats du Cardinal," and "Grandeur Decline" brought more medals. Although +he has painted hosts of excellent dog pictures, cats are his favorites, +on account, as he says, of "les formes fines et gracieux; mouvements, +souple et subtil." + +In the Luxembourg Gallery, Mr. Lambert's "Family of Cats" is considered +one of the finest cat pictures in the world. In this painting the mother +sits upon a table watching the antics of her four frivolous kittens. +There is a wonderful smoothness of touch and refinement of treatment +that have never yet been excelled. "After the Banquet" is another +excellent example of the same smoothness of execution, with fulness of +action instead of repose. And yet there is an undeniable lack of the +softer attributes which should be evident in the faces of the group. + +It is here that Madame Ronner excels all other cat painters, living or +dead. She not only infuses a wonderful degree of life into her little +figures, but reproduces the shades of expression, shifting and variable +as the sands of the sea, as no other artist of the brush has done. +Asleep or awake, her cats look exactly to the "felinarian" like cats +with whom he or she is familiar. Curiosity, drowsiness, indifference, +alertness, love, hate, anxiety, temper, innocence, cunning, fear, +confidence, mischief, earnestness, dignity, helplessness,--they are all +in Madame Ronner's cats' faces, just as we see them in our own cats. + +Madame Ronner is the daughter of Josephus Augustus Knip, a landscape +painter of some celebrity sixty years ago, and from her father she +received her first art education. She is now over seventy years old, and +for nearly fifty years has made her home in Brussels. There, she and her +happy cats, a big black Newfoundland dog named Priam, with a pert +cockatoo named Coco, dwell together in a roomy house in its own grounds, +back a little from the Charleroi Road. Madame Ronner has a good son to +care for her, and she loves the animals, who are both her servants and +her friends. Every day she spends three good hours of the morning in her +studio, painting her delightful cat pictures with the energy of a young +artist and the expert precision which we know so well. She was sixteen +when she succeeded in painting a picture which was accepted and sold at +a public exhibition at Dusseldorf. This was a study of a cat seated in a +window and examining with great curiosity a bumblebee; while it would +not compare with her later work, there must have been good quality in +it, or it would not have got into a Dusseldorf picture exhibition at +all. At any rate, it was the beginning of her successful career as an +artist. From that time she managed to support herself and her father by +painting pictures of animals. For many years, however, she confined +herself to painting dogs. Her most famous picture, "The Friend of Man," +belongs to this period--a pathetic group composed of a sorrowing old +sand-seller looking down upon a dying dog still harnessed to the little +sand-wagon, with the two other dogs standing by with wistful looks of +sympathy. When this picture was exhibited, in 1860, Madame Ronner's fame +was established permanently. + +But it so happened that in the same year a friendly kitten came to live +in her home, wandering in through the open doorway from no one knew +where, and deciding, after sniffing about the place in cat fashion, to +remain there for the remainder of its days. And it also happened that +Madame Ronner was lured by this small stranger, who so coolly quartered +himself upon her, to change the whole current of her artistic life, and +to paint cats instead of dogs. Of course, this change could not be made +in a moment; but after that the pictures which she painted to please +herself were cat pictures, and as these were exhibited and her +reputation as a cat painter became established, cat orders took the +place of dog orders more and more, until at last her time was given +wholly to cat painting. Her success in painting cat action has been due +as much to her tireless patience as to her skill; a patience that gave +her strength to spend hours upon hours in carefully watching the quick +movements of the lithe little creatures, and in correcting again and +again her rapidly made sketches. + +Every cat-lover knows that a cat cannot be induced, either by reason or +by affection, to act in accordance with any wishes save its own. Also +that cats find malicious amusement in doing what they know they are not +wanted to do, and that with an affectation of innocence that materially +aggravates their deliberate offence. + +But Madame Ronner, through her long experience, has evolved a way to get +them to pose as models. Her plan is the simple one of keeping her models +prisoners in a glass box, enclosed in a wire cage, while she is painting +them. Inside the prison she cannot always command their actions, but her +knowledge of cat character enables her to a certain extent to persuade +them to take the pose which she requires. By placing a comfortable +cushion in the cage she can tempt her model to lie down; some object of +great interest, like a live mouse, for instance, exhibited just outside +the cage is sure to create the eager look that she has shown so well on +cat faces; and to induce her kittens to indulge in the leaps and bounds +which she has succeeded so wonderfully in transferring to canvas, she +keeps hanging from the top of the cage a most seductive "bob." + +Madame Ronner's favorite models are "Jem" and "Monmouth," cats of rare +sweetness of temper, whose conduct in all relations of life is above +reproach. The name of "Monmouth," as many will recall, was made famous +by the hero of Monsieur La Bedolierre's classic, "Mother Michel and her +Cat," [Footnote: Translated into English by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.] and +therefore has clustering about it traditions so glorious that its wearers +in modern times must be upheld always by lofty hopes and high resolves. +Doubtless Monmouth Ronner feels the responsibility entailed upon him by +his name. + +In the European galleries are several noted paintings in which the cat +appears more or less unsuccessfully. Breughel and Teniers made their +grotesque "Cat Concerts" famous, but one can scarcely see why, since the +drawing is poor and there is no real insight into cat character evident. +The sleeping cat, in Breughel's "Paradise Lost" in the Louvre, is +better, being well drawn, but so small as to leave no chance for +expression. Lebrun's "Sleep of the Infant Jesus," in the Louvre, has a +slumbering cat under the stove, and in Barocci's "La Madonna del Gatto" +the cat is the centre of interest. Holman Hunt's "The Awakening +Conscience" and Murillo's Holy Family "del Pajarito" give the cat as a +type of cruelty, but have failed egregiously in accuracy of form or +expression. Paul Veronese's cat in "The Marriage at Cana" is fearfully +and wonderfully made, and even Rembrandt failed when he tried to +introduce a cat into his pictures. + +Rosa Bonheur has been wise enough not to attempt cat pictures, knowing +that special study, for which she had not the time or the inclination, +is necessary to fit an artist to excel with the feline character. +Landseer, too, after trying twice, once in 1819 with "The Cat Disturbed" +and once in 1824 with "The Cat's Paw," gave up all attempts at dealing +with Grimalkin. Indeed, most artists who have attempted it, have found +that to be a wholly successful cat artist such whole-hearted devotion to +the subject as Madame Ronner's is the invariable price of distinction. + +Of late, however, more artists are found who are willing to pay this +price, who are giving time and study not only to the subtle shadings of +the delicate fur, but to the varying facial expression and sinuous +movements of the cat. Margaret Stocks, of Munich, for example, is +rapidly coming to the front as a cat painter, and some predict for her +(she is still a young woman) a future equal to Madame Ronner's. Gambier +Bolton's "Day Dreams" shows admirably the quality and "tumbled-ness" of +an Angora kitten's fur, while the expression and drawing are equally +good. Miss Cecilia Beaux's "Brighton Cats" is famous, and every student +of cats recognizes its truthfulness at once. + +Angora and Persian kittens find another loving and faithful student in +J. Adam, whose paintings have been photographed and reproduced in this +country times without number. "Puss in Boots" is another foreign picture +which has been photographed and sold extensively in this country. +"Little Milksop" by the same artist, Mr. Frank Paton, gives fairly +faithful drawing and expression of two kittens who have broken a milk +pitcher and are eagerly lapping up the contents. + +In the Munich Gallery there is a painting by Claus Meyer, "Bose Zungen," +which has become quite noted. His three old cats and three young cats +show three gossiping old crones by the side of whom are three small and +awkward kittens. + +Of course, there are no artists whose painting of the cat is to be +compared with Madame Ronner's. Mr. J.L. Dolph, of New York City, has +painted hundreds of cat pieces which have found a ready sale, and Mr. +Sid L. Brackett, of Boston, is doing very creditable work. A successful +cat painter of the younger school is Mr. N.N. Bickford, of New York, +whose "Peek-a-Boo" hangs in a Chicago gallery side by side with cats of +Madame Ronner and Monsieur Lambert. "Miss Kitty's Birthday" shows that +he has genuine understanding of cat character, and is mastering the +subtleties of long white fur. + +Mr. Bickford is a pupil of Jules Lefebvre Boulanger and Miralles. It was +by chance that he became a painter of cats. Mademoiselle Marie Engle, +the prima-donna, owned a beautiful white Angora cat which she prized +very highly, and as her engagements abroad compelled her to part with +the cat for a short time, she left Mizzi with the artist until her +return. One day Mr. Bickford thought he would try painting the white, +silken fur of Mizzi: the result not only surprised him but also his +artist friends, who said, "Lambert himself could not have done better." + +Upon Miss Engle's return, seeing what an inspiration her cat had been, +she gave her to Mr. Bickford, and it is needless to add that he has +become deeply attached to his beautiful model. Mizzi is a pure white +Angora, with beautiful blue eyes, and silky fur. She won first prize at +the National Cat Show of 1895, but no longer attends cat shows, on +account of her engagements as professional model. + +Ben Austrian, who has made a success in painting other animals, has done +a cat picture of considerable merit. The subject was Tix, a beautiful +tiger-gray, belonging to Mr. Mahlon W. Newton, of Philadelphia. The cat +is noted, not only in Philadelphia, but among travelling men, as he +resides at a hotel, and is quite a prominent member of the office force. +He weighs fifteen pounds and is of a very affectionate nature, following +his master to the park and about the establishment like a dog. During +the day he lives in the office, lying on the counter or the key-rack, +but at night he retires with his master at eleven or twelve o'clock, +sleeping in his own basket in the bathroom, and waking his master +promptly at seven every morning. Tix's picture hangs in the office of +his hotel, and is becoming as famous as the cat. + +Elizabeth Bonsall is a young American artist who has exhibited some good +cat pictures, and whose work promises to make her famous some day, if +she does not "weary in well-doing"; and Mr. Jean Paul Selinger's +"Kittens" are quite well known. + +The good cat illustrator is even more rare than the cat painters. +Thousands of readers recall those wonderfully lifelike cats and kittens +which were a feature of the _St. Nicholas_ a few years ago, +accompanied by "nonsense rhymes" or "jingles." They were the work of +Joseph G. Francis, of Brookline, Mass., and brought him no little fame. +He was, and is still, a broker on State Street, Boston, and in his busy +life these inimitable cat sketches were but an incident. Mr. Francis is +a devoted admirer of all cats, and had for many years loved and studied +one cat in particular. It was by accident that he discovered his own +possibilities in the line of cat drawing, as he began making little +pen-and-ink sketches for his own amusement and then for that of his +friends. The latter persuaded him to send some of these drawings to the +_St. Nicholas_ and the _Wide-Awake_ magazines, and, rather to +his surprise, they were promptly accepted, and the "Francis cats" became +famous. Mr. Francis does but little artistic work, nowadays, more +important business keeping him well occupied; besides, he says, he "is +not in the mood for it." + +Who does not know Louis Wain's cats?--that prince of English +illustrators. Mr. Wain's home, when not in London, is at Bendigo Lodge, +Westgate, Kent. He began his artistic career at nineteen, after a +training in the best London schools. He was not a hard worker over his +books, but his fondness for nature led him to an artist's career. +American Indian stories were his delight, and accounts of the wandering +outdoor life of our aborigines were instrumental in developing his +powers of observation regarding the details of nature. Always fond of +dumb animals, he began life by making sketches for sporting papers at +agricultural shows all over England. It was his own cat "Peter" who +first suggested to Louis Wain the fanciful cat creations which have made +his name famous. Watching Peter's antics one evening, he was tempted to +do a small study of kittens, which was promptly accepted by a magazine +editor in London. Then he trained Peter to become a model and the +starting-point of his success. Peter has done more to wipe out of +England the contempt in which the cat was formerly held there, than any +other feline in the world. He has done his race a service in raising +their status from neglected, forlorn creatures on the one hand, or the +pampered, overfed object of old maids' affections on the other, to a +dignified place in the English house. + +The double-page picture of the "Cat's Christmas Dance" in the _London +Illustrated News_ of December 6, 1890, contains a hundred and fifty +cats, with as many varying facial expressions and attitudes. It occupied +eleven working days of Mr. Wain's time, but it caught the public fancy +and made a tremendous hit all over the world. Louis Wain's cats +immediately became famous, and he has had more orders than he can fill +ever since. He works eight hours a day, and then lays aside his brush to +study physical science, or write a humorous story. He has written and +illustrated a comic book, and spent a great deal of time over a more +serious one. + +Among the best known of his cat pictures, after the "Christmas Party," +is his "Cats' Rights Meeting," which not even the most ardent suffragist +can study without laughter. From a desk an ardent tabby is expounding, +loud and long, on the rights of her kind. In front of her is a double +row of felines, sitting with folded arms, and listening with absorbed +attention. The expressions of these cats' faces, some ardent, some +indignant, some placid, but all interested, form a ridiculous contrast +to a row of "Toms" in the rear, who evidently disagree with the +lecturer, and are prepared to hiss at her more "advanced" ideas. +"Returning Thanks" is nearly as amusing, with its thirteen cats seated +at table over their wine, while one offers thanks, and the remainder +wear varying expressions of devotion, indifference, or irreverence. +"Bringing Home the Yule Log" gives twenty-one cats, and as many +individual expressions of joy or discomfort; and the "Snowball Match" +shows a scene almost as hilarious as the "Christmas Dance." + +Mr. Wain believes there is a great future for black and white work if a +man is careful to keep abreast of the times. "A man should first of all +create his public and draw upon his own fund of originality to sustain +it," he says, "taking care not to pander to the degenerate tendencies +which would prevent his work from elevating the finer instincts of the +people." Says a recent visitor to the Wain household: "I wonder if Peter +realizes that he has done more good than most human beings, who are +endowed not only with sense but with brains? if in the firelight, he +sees the faces of many a suffering child whose hours of pain have been +shortened by the recital of his tricks, and the pictures of himself +arrayed in white cravat, or gayly disporting himself on a 'see-saw'? I +feel inclined to wake him up, and whisper how, one cold winter's night, +I met a party of five little children, hatless and bootless, hurrying +along an East-end slum, and saying encouragingly to the youngest, who +was crying with cold and hunger, 'Come along: we'll get there soon.' I +followed them down the lighted street till they paused in front of a +barber's shop, and I heard their voices change to a shout of merriment: +for in the window was a crumpled Christmas supplement, and Peter, in a +frolicsome mood, was represented entertaining at a large cats' +tea-party. Hunger, and cold, and misery were all dispelled. Who would +not be a cat of Louis Wain's, capable of creating ten minutes' sunshine +in a childish heart?" + +Mr. Wain announces a discovery in relation to cats which corroborates a +theory of my own, adopted from long observation and experience. + +"I have found," he says, "as a result of many years of inquiry and +study, that people who keep cats and are in the habit of petting them, +do not suffer from those petty ailments which all flesh is heir to. +Rheumatism and nervous complaints are uncommon with them, and Pussy's +lovers are of the sweetest temperament. I have often felt the benefit, +after a long spell of mental effort, of having my cats sitting across my +shoulders, or of half an hour's chat with Peter." + +This is a frequent experience of my own. Nothing is more restful and +soothing after a busy day than sitting with my hands buried in the soft +sides of one of my cats. + +"Do you know," said one of my neighbors, recently, "when I am troubled +with insomnia, lately, I get up and get Bingo from his bed, and take him +to mine. I can go to sleep with my hands on him." + +There is a powerful magnetic influence which emanates from a sleepy or +even a quiet cat, that many an invalid has experienced without realizing +it. If physicians were to investigate this feature of the cat's +electrical and magnetic influence, in place of anatomical research after +death, or the horrible practice of vivisection, they might be doing a +real service to humanity. + +Mr. Wain's success as an illustrator brought him great prominence in the +National Cat Club of England, and he has been for a number of years its +president, doing much to raise the condition and quality of cats and the +status of the club. He has a number of beautiful and high-bred cats at +Bendigo Lodge. + +With regard to the painting of cats Champfleury said, "The lines are so +delicate, the eyes are distinguished by such remarkable qualities, the +movements are due to such sudden impulses, that to succeed in the +portrayal of such a subject, one must be feline one's self." And Mr. +Spielman gives the following advice to those who would paint cats:-- + +"You must love them, as Mahomet and Chesterfield loved them: be as fond +of their company as Wolsley and Richelieu, Mazarin and Colbert, who +retained them even during their most impressive audiences: as Petrarch, +and Dr. Johnson, and Canon Liddon, and Ludovic Halevy, who wrote with +them at their elbow: and Tasso and Gray, who celebrated them in verse: +as sympathetic as Carlyle, whom Mrs. Allingham painted in the company of +his beloved 'Tib' in the garden at Chelsea, or as Whittington, the hero +of our milk-and-water days: think of El Daher Beybars, who fed all +feline comers, or 'La Belle Stewart,' Duchess of Richmond, who, in the +words of the poet, 'endowed a college' for her little friends: you must +be as approbative of their character, their amenableness to education, +their inconstancy, not to say indifference and their general lack of +principle, as Madame de Custine: and as appreciative of their daintiness +and grace as Alfred de Musset. Then, and not till then, can you consider +yourself sentimentally equipped for studying the art of cat painting." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES + + +At comparatively frequent intervals we read of some woman, historic or +modern, who has left an annuity (as the Duchess of Richmond, "La Belle +Stewart") for the care of her pet cats; now and then a man provides for +them in his will, as Lord Chesterfield, for instance, who left a +permanent pension for his cats and their descendants. But I find only +one who has endowed a home for them and given it sufficient means to +support the strays and waifs who reach its shelter. + +Early in the eighties, Captain Nathan Appleton, of Boston (a brother of +the poet Longfellow's wife, and of Thomas Appleton, the celebrated wit), +returned from a stay in London with a new idea, that of founding some +sort of a refuge, or hospital, for sick or stray cats and dogs. He had +visited Battersea, and been deeply impressed with the need of a shelter +for small and friendless domestic animals. + +At Battersea there is an institution similar to the one the Society for +Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York have at East 120th Street, +where stray animals may be sent and kept for a few days awaiting the +possible appearance of a claimant or owner; at the end of which time the +animals are placed in the "lethal chamber," where they die instantly and +painlessly by asphyxiation. In Boston, the Society of Prevention of +Cruelty to Animals have no such refuge or pound, but in place of it keep +one or two men whose business it is to go wherever sent and "mercifully +put to death" the superfluous, maimed, or sick animals that shall be +given them. + +Captain Appleton's idea, however, was something entirely different from +this. These creatures, he argued, have a right to their lives and the +pursuit of happiness after their own fashion, and he proposed to help +them to enjoy that right. He appealed to a few sympathetic friends and +gave two or three acres of land from his own estate, near "Nonantum +Hill," where the Apostle Eliot preached to the Indians, and where his +iodine springs are located. He had raised a thousand or two dollars and +planned a structure of some kind to shelter stray dogs and cats, when +the good angel that attends our household pets guided him to the lawyer +who had charge of the estates of Miss Ellen M. Gifford, of New Haven, +Ct. "I think I can help you," said the lawyer. But he would say nothing +more at that time. A few weeks later, Captain Appleton was sent for. +Miss Gifford had become deeply interested in the project, and after +making more inquiries, gave the proposed home some twenty-five thousand +dollars, adding to this amount afterward and providing for the +institution in her will. It has already had over one hundred thousand +dollars from Miss Gifford's estates, and it is so well endowed and well +managed that it is self-supporting. + +The Ellen M. Gifford Sheltering Home for Animals is situated near the +Brookline edge of the Brighton district in Boston. In fact, the +residential portion of aristocratic Brookline is so fast creeping up to +it that the whole six acres of the institution will doubtless soon be +disposed of at a very handsome profit, while the dogs and cats will +retire to a more remote district to "live on the interest of their +money." + +The main building is a small but handsome brick affair, facing on Lake +Street. This is the home of the superintendent, and contains, besides, +the offices of the establishment. Over the office is a tablet with this +inscription, taken from a letter of Miss Gifford's about the time the +home was opened:-- + +"If only the waifs, the strays, the sick, the abused, would be sure to +get entrance to the home, and anybody could feel at liberty to bring in +a starved or ill-treated animal and have it cared for without pay, my +object would be obtained. March 27, 1884." + +The superintendent is a lover of animals as well as a good business +manager, and his work is in line with the sentence just quoted. Any one +wanting a cat or a dog, and who can promise it a good home, may apply +there. But Mr. Perkins does not take the word of a stranger at random. +He investigates their circumstances and character, and never gives away +an animal unless he can be reasonably sure of its going to a good home. +For instance, he once received an application from one man for six cats. +The wholesale element in the order made him slightly suspicious, and he +immediately drove to Boston, where he found that his would-be customer +owned a big granary overrun with mice. He sent the six cats, and two +weeks later went to see how they were getting on, when he found them +living happily in a big grain-loft, fat and contented as the most +devoted Sultan of Egypt could have asked. None but street cats and stray +dogs, homeless waifs, ill-treated and half starved, are received at this +home. Occasionally, some family desiring to get rid of the animal they +have petted for months, perhaps years, will send it over to the +Sheltering Home. But if Mr. Perkins can find where it came from he +promptly returns it, for even this place, capable of comfortably housing +a hundred cats and as many dogs, cannot accommodate all the unfortunates +that are picked up in the streets of Boston. The accommodations, too, +while they are comfortable and even luxurious for the poor creatures +that have hitherto slept on ash-barrels and stone flaggings, are unfit +for household pets that have slept on cushions, soft rugs, and milady's +bed. + +There is a dog-house and a cat-house, sufficiently far apart that the +occupants of one need not be disturbed by those of the other. In the +dog-house there are rows of pens on each side of the middle aisle, in +which from one to four or five dogs, according to size, are kept when +indoors. These are of all sorts, colors, dispositions, and sizes, +ranging from pugs to St. Bernards, terriers to mastiffs. There are few +purely bred dogs, although there are many intelligent and really +handsome ones. The dogs are allowed to run in the big yard that opens +out from their house at certain hours of the day; but the cats' yards +are open to them all day and night. All yards and runs are enclosed with +wire netting, and the cat-house has partitions of the same. All around +the sides of the cat-house are shelves or bunks, which are kept supplied +with clean hay, for their beds. Here one may see cats of every color and +assorted sizes, contentedly curled up in their nests, while their +companions sit blinking in the sun, or run out in the yards. Cooked +meat, crackers and milk, and dishes of fresh water are kept where they +can get at them. The cats all look plump and well fed, and, indeed, the +ordinary street cat must feel that his lines have fallen in pleasant +places. + +Not so, however, with pet cats who may be housed there. They miss the +companionship of people, and the household belongings to which they have +been accustomed. Sometimes it is really pathetic to see one of these +cast-off pets climb up the wire netting and plainly beg the visitor to +take him away from that strange place, and give him such a home as he +has been used to. In the superintendent's house there is usually a good +cat or two of this sort, as he is apt to test a well-bred cat before +giving him away. + +Somewhat similar, and even older than the Ellen Gifford Sheltering Home, +is the Morris Refuge of Philadelphia. This institution, whose motto is +"The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his +works," was first established in May, 1874, by Miss Elizabeth Morris and +other ladies who took an interest in the protection of suffering +animals. It does not limit its tender mercies to cats and dogs, but +cares for every suffering animal. It differs from the Ellen Gifford Home +chiefly in the fact that, while the latter is a _home_ for stray +cats and dogs, the Morris Refuge has for its object the care for and +disposal of suffering animals of all sorts. In a word, it brings relief +to most of these unfortunate creatures by means of a swift and painless +death. + +It was first known as the City Refuge, although it was never maintained +by the city. In January, 1889, it was reorganized and incorporated as +the "Morris Refuge for Homeless and Suffering Animals." It is supported +by private contributions, and is under the supervision of Miss Morris +and a corps of kind-hearted ladies of Philadelphia. A wagon is kept at +the home to respond to calls, and visits any residence where suffering +animals may need attention. The agent of the society lives at the refuge +with his family, and receives animals at any time. When notice is +received of an animal hurt or suffering, he sends after it. Chloroform +is invariably taken along, in order that, if expedient, the creature may +be put out of its agony at once. This refuge is at 1242 Lombard Street, +and there is a temporary home where dogs are boarded at 923 South 11th +Street. + +In 1895, out of 23,067 animals coming under the care of the association, +19,672 were cats. In 1896, there were 24,037 animals relieved and +disposed of, while the superintendent answered 230 police calls. Good +homes are found for both dogs and cats, but not until the agent is sure +that they will be kindly treated. + +In Miss Morris's eighth annual report she says: "Looking back to the +formation of the first society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, +we find since that time a gradual awakening to the duties man owes to +those below him in the scale of animal creation. The titles of those +societies and their objects, as defined by their charters, show that at +first it was considered sufficient to protect animals from cruel +treatment: very few people gave thought to the care of those that were +without homes. Now many are beginning to think of the evil of being +overrun with numbers of homeless creatures, whose sufferings appeal to +the sympathies of the humane, and whose noise and depredations provoke +the cruelty of the hard-hearted: hence the efforts that are being made +in different cities to establish refuges. A request has lately been +received from Montreal asking for our reports, as it is proposed to +found a home for animals in that city, and information is being +collected in relation to such institutions." + +Lady Marcus Beresford has succeeded in establishing and endowing a home +for cats in Englefield Green, Windsor Park. She has made a specialty of +Angoras, and her collection is famous. Queen Victoria and her daughters +take a deep interest, not alone in finely bred cats, but in poor and +homeless waifs as well. Her Royal Highness, in fact, took pains to write +the London S.P.C.A. some years ago, saying she would be very glad to +have them do something for the safety and protection of cats, "_which +are so generally misunderstood and grossly ill-treated_." She herself +sets a good example in this respect, and when her courts remove from one +royal residence to another, her cats are taken with her. + +There is a movement in Paris, too, to provide for sick and homeless cats +as well as dogs. Two English ladies have founded a hospital near +Asnieres, where ailing pets can be tended in illness, or boarded for +about ten cents a day; and very well cared for their pensioners are. +There is also a charity ward where pauper patients are received and +tended carefully, and afterward sold or given away to reliable people. +Oddly, this sort of charity was begun by Mademoiselle Claude Bernard, +the daughter of the great scientist who, it is said, tortured more +living creatures to death than any other. Vivisection became a passion +with him, but Mademoiselle Bernard is atoning for her father's cruelty +by a singular devotion to animals, and none are turned from her gates. + +This is the way they do it in Cairo even now, according to Monsieur +Prisse d'Avennes, the distinguished Egyptologist:-- + +"The Sultan, El Daher Beybars, who reigned in Egypt and Syria toward 658 +of the Hegira (1260 A.D.) and is compared by William of Tripoli to Nero +in wickedness, and to Caesar in bravery, had a peculiar affection for +cats. At his death, he left a garden, 'Gheyt-el-Quoltah' (the cats' +orchard), situated near his mosque outside Cairo, for the support of +homeless cats. Subsequently the field was sold and resold several times +by the administrator and purchasers. In consequence of a series of +dilapidations it now produces a nominal rent of fifteen piastres a year, +which with certain other legacies is appropriated to the maintenance of +cats. The Kadi, who is the official administrator of all pious and +charitable bequests, ordains that at the hour of afternoon prayer, +between noon and sunset, a daily distribution of animals' entrails and +refuse meat from the butchers' stalls, chopped up together, shall be +made to the cats of the neighborhood. This takes place in the outer +court of the 'Mehkemeh,' or tribunal, and a curious spectacle may then +be seen. At this hour all the terraces near the Mehkemeh are crowded +with cats: they come jumping from house to house across the narrow Cairo +streets, hurrying for their share: they slide down walls and glide into +the court, where they dispute, with great tenacity and much growling, +the scanty meal so sadly out of proportion to the number of guests. The +old ones clear the food in a moment: the young ones and the newcomers, +too timid to fight for their chance, must content themselves with +licking the ground. Those wanting to get rid of cats take them there and +deposit them. I have seen whole baskets of kittens deposited in the +court, greatly to the annoyance of the neighbors." + +There are similar customs in Italy and Switzerland. In Geneva cats prowl +about the streets like dogs at Constantinople. The people charge +themselves with their maintenance, and feed the cats who come to their +doors at the same hour every day for their meals. + +In Florence, a cloister near St. Lorenzo's Church serves as a refuge for +cats. It is an ancient and curious institution, but I am unable to find +whether it is maintained by the city or by private charities. There are +specimens of all colors, sizes, and kinds, and any one who wants a cat +has but to go there and ask for it. On the other hand, the owner of a +cat who is unable or unwilling to keep it may take it there, where it is +fed and well treated. + +In Rome, they have a commendable system of caring for their cats. At a +certain hour butchers' men drive through the city, with carts well +stocked with cat's meat. They utter a peculiar cry which the cats +recognize, and come hurrying out of the houses for their allowances, +which are paid for by the owners at a certain rate per month. + +In Boston, during the summer of 1895, a firm of butchers took +subscriptions from philanthropic citizens, and raised enough to defray +the expenses of feeding the cats on the Back Bay,--where, in spite of +the fact that the citizens are all wealthy and supposedly humane, there +are more starving cats than elsewhere in the city. But the experiment +has not been repeated. + +Hospitals for sick animals are no new thing, but a really comfortable +home for cats is an enterprise in which many a woman who now asks +despondently what she can do in this overcrowded world to earn a living, +might find pleasant and profitable. + +A most worthy charity is that of the Animal Rescue League in Boston, +which was started by Mrs. Anna Harris Smith in 1899. She put a call in +the newspapers, asking those who were interested in the subject to +attend a meeting and form a league for the protection and care of lost +or deserted pets. The response was immediate and generous. The Animal +Rescue League was formed with several hundred members, and in a short +time the house at 68 Carver Street was rented, and a man and his wife +put in charge. Here are brought both cats and dogs from all parts of +Boston and the suburbs, where they are sure of kind treatment and care. +If they are diseased they are immediately put out of existence by means +of the lethal chamber; otherwise they are kept for a few days in order +that they may be claimed by their owners if lost, or have homes found +for them whenever it is possible. During the first year over two +thousand cats were cared for, and several hundred dogs. This home is +maintained by voluntary contributions and by the annual dues of +subscribers. These are one dollar a year for associate members and five +dollars for active members. It is an excellent charity, and one that may +well be emulated in other cities. + +There are several cat asylums and refuges in the Far West, and certainly +a few more such institutions as the Sheltering Home at Brighton, Mass., +or the Morris Refuge would be a credit to a country. How better than by +applying it to our cats can we demonstrate the truth of Solomon's maxim, +"A merciful man is merciful to his beast"? + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS + + +If any of my readers hunger and thirst for information concerning the +descent of the cat through marsupial ancestors and mesozoic mammals to +the generalized placental or monodelphous carnivora of to-day, let them +consult St. George Mivart, who gives altogether the most comprehensive +and exhaustive scientific study to the cat ever published, and whose +book on the cat is an excellent work for the earnest beginner in the +study of biological science. He says no more complete example can be +found of a perfectly organized living being than that supplied by the +highest mammalian family--_Felidae_. + +"On the whole," he sums up, "it seems probable that the mammalia, and +therefore the cat, descends from some highly developed, somewhat +reptile-like batrachian of which no trace has been found." + +Away back in the eighth century of the Hegira, an Arab naturalist gives +this account of the creation of the cat: "When, as the Arab relates, +Noah made a couple of each animal to enter the ark, his companions and +family asked, 'What security can you give us and the other animals, so +long as the lion dwells with us on this narrow vessel?' Then Noah betook +himself to prayer, and entreated the Lord God. Immediately fever came +down from heaven and seized upon the king of beasts." This was the +origin of fever. But constituents in Noah's time, as now, were +ungrateful; and no sooner was the lion disposed of, than the mouse was +discovered to be an object of suspicion. They complained that there +would be no safety for provisions or clothing. "And so Noah renewed his +supplication to the Most High, the lion sneezed, and a cat ran out of +his nostrils. From that time the mouse has been timid and has hidden in +holes." + +In the Egyptian gallery of the British Museum there is an excellent +painting of a tabby cat assisting a man to capture birds. Hieroglyphic +inscriptions as far back as 1684 B.C. mention the cat, and there is at +Leyden a tablet of the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasty with a cat +seated under a chair. A temple at Beni-Hassan is dedicated to Pasht or +Bubastis, the goddess of cats, which is as old as Thothmes IV of the +eighteenth dynasty, 1500 B.C.; and the cat appears in written rituals of +that dynasty. Herodotus tells of the almost superstitious reverence +which dwellers along the Nile felt for the cat, and gravely states that +when one died a natural death in any house, the inmates shaved their +eyebrows as a token of grief; also, that in case of a fire the first +thing they saved was the household cat. Fortunate pussies! + +It is thought that cats were introduced into Greece from Egypt, although +Professor Rolleston, of Cambridge University, believes the Grecian pet +cat to have been the white-breasted marten. Yet why should he? Is not a +soft, white-breasted maltese or tabby as attractive? The idea that cats +were domesticated in Western Europe by the Crusaders is thought to be +erroneous; but pet cats were often found in nunneries in the Middle +Ages, and Pope Gregory the Great, toward the end of the sixth century, +had a pet cat of which he was very fond. + +An old writer says, "A favorite cat sometimes accompanied the Egyptians +on these occasions [of sport], and the artist of that day intends to +show us by the exactness with which he represents her seizing her prey, +that cats were trained to hunt and carry water-fowl." There are old +Egyptian paintings representing sporting scenes along the Nile, where +the cats plunge into the water of the marshes to retrieve and carry +game; while plenty of mural paintings show them sitting under the +arm-chair of the mistress of the house. Modern naturalists, however, +claim a radical difference between those old Egyptian retrieving cats +and our water-hating pussies. There are no records of cats between that +period in Egypt, about 1630 B.C., and 260 B.C., when they seem to have +become acclimated in Greece and Rome. There is in the Bordeaux Museum an +ancient picture of a young girl holding a cat, on a tomb of the +Gallo-Roman Epoch, and cats appeared in the heraldry of that date; but +writers of those ages speak rather slightingly of them. Then for +centuries the cat was looked upon as a diabolic creature, fit company +for witches. + +"Why," says Balthazar Bekker in the seventeenth century, "is a cat +always found among the belongings of witches, when according to the +Sacred Book, and Apocalypse in particular, it is the dog, not a feline +animal, that consorts with the sorcerers?" + +In Russia even yet the common people believe that black cats become +devils at the end of seven years, and in many parts of Southern Europe +they are still supposed to be serving apprenticeship as witches. In +Sicily the peasants are sure that if a black cat lives with seven +masters, the soul of the seventh will surely accompany him back to the +dominion of Hades. In Brittany there is a dreadful tale of cats that +dance with unholy glee around the crucifix while their King is being put +to death. Cats figure in Norwegian folk-lore, too, as witches and +picturesque incumbents of ghost-haunted houses and nocturnal revels. And +even to-day there is a legend in Westminster to the effect that the +dissipated cats of that region indulge in a most disreputable revel in +some country house, and that is why they look so forlorn and altogether +undone by daylight. + +A canon enacted in England in 1127 forbade any abbess or nun to use more +costly fur than that of lambs or cats, and it is proved that cat-fur was +at that time commonly used for trimming dresses. The cat was, probably +for that reason, an object of chase in royal forests, and a license is +still in existence from Richard II to the Abbot of Peterborough, and +dated 1239, granting liberty to hunt cats. This was probably the wild +cat, however, which was not the same as the domestic.[1] + +[Footnote 1: + +These are among the laws supposedly enacted by Hoel Dha (Howell the +Good) sometime between 915 and 948 A.D. + +The Vendotian Code XI. + +The worth of a cat and her teithi (qualities) this is:-- + +1st. The worth of a kitten from the night it is kittened until it shall +open its eyes, is one penny. + +2d. And from that time until it shall kill mice, two pence. + +3d. And after it shall kill mice, four legal pence; and so it shall +always remain. + +4th. Her teithe are to see, to hear, to kill mice, and to have her claws. + +This is the "Dimentian Code." XXXII. Of Cats. + +1st. The worth of a cat that is killed or stolen. Its head to be put +downward upon a clean, even floor, with its tail lifted upward and thus +suspended, whilst wheat is poured about it until the top of its tail be +covered and that is to be its worth. If the corn cannot be had, then a +milch sheep with a lamb and its wool is its value, if it be a cat that +guards the king's barn. + +2d. The worth of a common cat is four legal pence. + +3d. The teithi of a cat, and of every animal upon the milk of which +people do not feed, is the third part of its worth or the worth of its +litter. + +4th. Whosoever shall sell a cat (cath) is to answer that she devour not +her kittens, and that she have ears, teeth, eyes, and nails, and be a +good mouser. + +The "Gwentian Code" begins in the same way, but says:-- + +3d. That it be perfect of ear, perfect of eye, perfect of teeth, perfect +of tail, perfect of claw, and without marks of fire. And if the cat fall +short in any of these particulars, a third of her price had to be +refunded. As to the fire, in case her fur had been singed the rats could +detect her by the odor, and her qualities as a mouser were thus injured. +And then it goes on to say:-- + +4th. That the teithi and the legal worth of a cat are coequal. + +5th. A pound is the worth of a pet animal of the king. + +6th. The pet animal of a breyer (brewer) is six score pence in value. + +7th. The pet animal of a taoog is a curt penny in value. + +In the 39th chapter, 53d section, we find that "there are three animals +whose tails, eyes, and lives are of the same value--a calf, a filly for +common work, and a cat, except the cat which shall watch the king's +barn," in which case she was more valuable. + +Another old Welsh law says: "Three animals reach their worth in a year: +a sheep, a cat, and a cur. This is a complement of the legal hamlet; +nine buildings, one plough, one kiln, one churn, and one cat, one cock, +one bull, and one herdsman." + +In order that there might be no mistake in regard to the cat, a rough +sketch of Puss is given in the Mss. of the laws.] + +That cats, even in the Middle Ages, were thought much more highly of in +Great Britain than on the Continent is proved by the fact that the laws +there imposed a heavy fine on cat-killers, the fine being as much wheat +as would serve to bury the cat when he was held up by the tip of the +tail with his nose on the ground. So that pet cats stood a fairly good +chance in those days. + +One of the good things remembered of Louis XIII is that he interceded as +Dauphin with Henri IV for the lives of the cats about to be burned at +the festival on St. John's Day. + +Nowadays, there is a current superstition that a black cat brings good +luck to a house; but in the Middle Ages they believed that the devil +borrowed the form of a black cat when he wanted to torment or get +control of his victims. There are plenty of old traditions about cats +having spoken to human beings, and been kicked, or struck, or burned by +them in return; and invariably, these tales tell us, those who are so +bespoken meet some one the next day with plain marks of the injury they +had inflicted on the froward cat,--which was sure evidence of witchery +and sorcery. Doubtless full many a human being has been put to death, in +times past, on no stronger evidence of being a witch. Humanity did not +come to the rescue of the cat and bring her out from the shadow of +ignominy that hung over her in mediaeval times until 1618, when an +interdict was issued in Flanders prohibiting the festive ceremony of +throwing cats from the high tower of Ypres on Wednesdays of the second +week in Lent. And from that time Pussy's fortunes began to look up. + +To-day, travellers on the edge of the Pyrenees know a little old man, +Martre Tolosan, who makes and sells replicas of the original models of +cats found among the Roman remains at a small town near Toulouse. These +are made in blue and white earthenware and each one is numbered. Mine, +bought by a friend in 1895, is marked 5000. They are not exact models of +our cats of to-day, to be sure, but they express all the snug content +and inscrutable calm of our modern pets. + +The Chinese reproduce cats in their ceramics in white, turquoise blue, +and old violet. One that once belonged to Madame de Mazarin sold for +eight hundred livres. In Japan, cats are reproduced in common ware, +daubed with paint, but the Chinese make them of finer ware, enamelling +the commoner kinds of porcelain and using the cat in conventional forms +as flower-vases and lamps. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS + + +Few people realize how many kinds of cats there are. The fashionable +world begins to discuss cats technically and understand their various +points of excellence. The "lord mayor's chain," the "Dutch rabbit +markings," and similar features are understood by more cat fanciers than +a few years ago; but, until within that time, it is doubtful if the +number of people who knew the difference between the Angora and the +Persian in this country amounted to a hundred. It is but a few years +since the craze for the Angora cat started. These cats have been +fashionable pets in England for some years back, and now America begins +to understand their value and the principles of breeding them. Today, +there are as handsome, well-bred animals in the United States as can be +found abroad. The demand for high-bred animals with a pedigree is +greatly increasing, and society people are beginning to understand the +fine points of the thoroughbred. + +The Angora cat, as its name indicates, comes from Angora in Western +Asia, the province that is celebrated for its goats with long hair of +fine quality. In fact, the hair under the Angora cat's body often +resembles the finest of the Angora goatskins. Angora cats are favorites +with the Turks and Armenians, and exist in many colors, especially since +they have been more carefully bred. They vary in form, color, and +disposition, and also in the quality of their hair. The standard calls +for a small head, with not too long a nose, large eyes that should +harmonize in color with the fur, small, pointed ears with a tuft of hair +at the apex, and a very full, fluffy mane around the neck. This mane is +known as the "lord mayor's chain." The body is longer than that of the +ordinary cat in proportion to its size, and is extremely graceful, and +covered with long, silky hair, which is crinkly like that of the Angora +goat. This hair should be as fine as possible, and not woolly. The legs +are of a moderate length, but look short on account of the length of +hair on the body. Little tufts of hair growing between the toes indicate +high breeding. The Angora cat, in good condition, is one of the most +beautiful and elegant creatures in the world, and few can resist its +charm. The tail is long and like an ostrich plume. It is usually +carried, when the cat is in good spirits, straight up, with the end +waving over toward one side. The tail of the Angora serves as a +barometer of its bodily and mental condition. If the cat is ill or +frightened, the tail droops, and sometimes trails on the ground; but +when she is in good spirits, playing about the house or grounds, it +waves like a great plume, and is exceedingly handsome. The suppleness of +the Angora's tail is also a mark of fine breeding. A highbred Angora +will allow its tail to be doubled or twisted without apparent notice of +the performance. + +The Angora does not reach its prime until about two years. Before that +time its head and body are not sufficiently developed to give the full +beauty and grace of the animal. As a rule, the Angora is of good +disposition, although the females are apt to be exceedingly nervous. +They are sociable and docile, although fond of roaming about, especially +if allowed to run loose. As a rule, they do not possess the keen +intelligence of the ordinary short-haired family cat, but their great +beauty and their cleanly and affectionate habits make them favorites +with fashionable people. The proper breeding of the Angora cat is a +regular science. Of the colors of the Angoras, the blue or maltese is a +favorite, and rather common, especially when mixed with white. + +The white Angora is extraordinarily beautiful, and brings a high price +when it has blue eyes and all its points are equally good. The orange, +or yellow, and the black with amber eyes are also prize winners. There +are the tigers also, the brown tabby, and the orange and white. Mixed +colors are more common than solid ones; the tortoise-shell cat of three +colors and well mottled being considered particularly desirable. + +The Persian cat differs from the Angora in the quality of its fur, +although the ordinary observer sees little difference between them. All +the long-haired cats originated from the Indian Bengalese, Thibetan, +and other wild cats of Asia and Russia. The Persian cat of very great +value is all black, with a very fluffy frill, or lord mayor's chain, and +orange eyes. Next to him comes a light slate or blue Persian, with +yellow eyes. The fur of the Persian cat is much more woolly than that of +the Angora, and sometimes in hot weather mats badly. The difference +between a Persian and an Angora can usually be told by an amateur, by +drawing the tail between the thumb and first finger. The Angora's tail +comes out thin, silky, and narrow, although it immediately "fluffs" up. +The Persian's tail does not compress itself readily into a small space. +The Persian cat's head is larger, its ears are less pointed, although it +should have the tuft at the end and the long hair inside. It is usually +larger in body and apparently stronger made, although slender and +elegant in appearance, with small bones and graceful in movement. The +colors vary, as with the Angora, except that the tortoise-shell and the +dark-marked tabby do not so frequently appear. The temper is usually +less reliable and the intelligence less keen than the Angora. + +The Russian long-haired pet is much less common even than the Persian +and Angora. It is fond of cold weather, and its fur is denser, +indicating that it has been used to colder regions. Many of the cats +that we see are crosses of Angora and Persian, or Angora and Russian, so +that it is extremely difficult for the amateur to know a thoroughbred +cat which has not been mixed with other varieties. + +There is also a fine short-haired cat coming from Russia, usually +self-colored. Mrs. Frederick Monroe, of Chicago, owns a very handsome +blue and white one. + +In Pegu, Siam, and Burmah, there is a race of cats known as the Malay +cat, with tails only half the ordinary length and often contorted into a +sort of a knot that cannot be straightened, after the fashion of the pug +dog or ordinary pig. + +There is another cat known as the Mombas, a native of the west coast of +Africa and covered with stiff, bristling hair. Paraguay cats are only +one-quarter as big as our ordinary cat, and are found along the western +coast of South America, even as far north as Mexico. + +The royal cat of Siam is a short-haired cat, yet widely different from +other short-haired varieties. They are extremely pretty, with blue or +amber-colored eyes by day which grow brilliant at night. These cats also +frequently have the kink in the tail, and sometimes a strong animal +odor, although this is not disagreeable. The head is rather longer than +the ordinary cat's, tapering off sharply toward the muzzle, the forehead +flat and receding, and the eyes more slanting toward the nose than the +American cat's. The form should be slender, graceful, and delicately +made; the body long; the tail very thin and rather short; the legs short +and slender, and the feet oval. The body is of a bright, uniform color, +and the legs, feet, and tail are usually black. + +The Manx cat is considered by many people as a natural curiosity. It +differs from the ordinary domestic cat but little, except in the absence +of a tail, or even an apology for one. The hind legs are thicker and +rather longer than the ordinary cat's, and it runs more like a hare. It +is not a graceful object when seen from behind, but it is an +affectionate, home-loving creature with considerable intelligence. The +Manx cat came from the Isle of Man originally, and is a distinct breed. +So-called Manx cats have tails from one to a few inches long, but these +are crosses of the Manx and the ordinary cat. In the Crimea is found +another kind of cat which has no tail. The cats known as the "celebrated +orange cats of Venice," are probably descendants of the old Egyptian +cat, and are of varying shades of yellow, sometimes deepening into a +sandy color which is almost red. There are obscure stripes on the body, +which become more distinct on the limbs. The tail is more or less ringed +toward its termination. + +There has been a newspaper paragraph floating about stating that a prize +of several thousand dollars had been offered in England for a male +tortoise-shell cat. This is probably not true, as a Mr. Smith exhibited +a tortoise-shell he-cat at the Crystal Palace Show of 1871. Several +tortoise-shell and white toms have been exhibited since, and one of +these has taken nine first prizes at the Crystal Palace Show; but the +tortoise-shell he-cat is extremely rare. The real tortoise-shell is not +a striped tiger nor a tabby. It has three colors usually, black, yellow, +and red or brown; but these appear in patches rather than stripes. It is +said that the tortoise-shell cat is common in Egypt and the south of +Europe. It comes from a different stock than the ordinary short-haired +cat, the texture of the hair being different, as well as the color. The +tortoise-shell and white cat is much more common, and is the product of +a cross between a tortoise shell and a solid color cat. In this case the +hair is usually coarser and the tail thicker than in the ordinary cat. + +Among cat fanciers there is a distinctive variety known as the +tortoise-shell tabby. As the tabby cat is one of the varieties of +striped or spotted cats having markings, broad or narrow, of bands of +black on a dark tan or gray ground, the tortoise-shell cat would have +both stripes and patches of color. + +Of the tabbies, there are brown tabbies, silver tabbies, and red +tabbies. It is said that the red tabby she-cat is as scarce as the +tortoise-shell he-cat. The ordinary observer considers the brown tabby +with white markings as much the handsomest of the tabbies. But fanciers +and judges do not agree with him, the cats having narrow bands and spots +being the ones to take prizes. The word "tabby," according to Harrison +Weir, was derived from a kind of taffeta or ribbed silk which used to be +called tabby silk. Other authorities state that tabby cats got their +name from Atab, a street in Bagdad; but as this street was famous for +its watered silks perhaps the same reason holds. The tortoise-shell used +to be called, in England, the Calimanco. In America, it is sometimes +called the calico cat. + +The red tabby is of a deep reddish or yellow brown, with a well-ringed +tail, orange or yellow eyes, and pink cushions to the feet. The brown +tabby is orange brown, with black lips, brown whiskers, black feet, +black pads, long tail, greenish orange eyes, and red nose bordered with +black. The spotted tabby must have no bands at all. It must be brown, +red, or yellow, with black spots. In the brown tabby the feet and pads +are black; in the yellow and red, the feet and pads are pink. The +spotted cat sometimes resembles a leopard, while the banded tabby +resembles more the tiger. Some of the spotted tabbies are extremely +handsome, and came originally from a cross between the ordinary cat and +the wild cat. + +"Self-colored cats" are entirely of one color, which may vary in +different cats, but must never be mixed in the same cat, nor even shaded +into a lighter tone on the animal; and whether this color be black, +blue, red, or yellow, the self-colored cat should have a rich deep tint. +Of course the short-haired white cat is the handsomest of all. One of +the peculiarities of this white cat is that it is apt to be deaf. The +most valuable white cats, whether long or short haired, have blue eyes. +Sometimes they have one blue eye and one green or yellow, which gives a +comical effect, and detracts from their value. By the way, cross-eyed +cats are not unknown. The best white cats have a yellowish white tint +instead of grayish white, as the latter have a coarser quality of fur. + +The jet-black cat is thought by many to be the most desirable. The true +black cat should have a uniform, intensely black coat, velvety and +extremely glossy; the eyes should be round and full, and of a brilliant +amber; the nose and pads of the feet should be jet-black, and the tail +long and tapering. It is difficult to find a black cat without a white +hair, as usually there are a few under the chin or on the belly. + +The blue cat is the one ordinarily known in this country as the dark +maltese. There is a tradition that it came from the Island of Malta. +Many people do not consider it a distinct breed, but think it a +light-colored variety of the black cat. It is known sometimes as the +Archangel, sometimes as the Russian blue, the Spanish blue, the +Chartreuse blue, but more commonly in this country as the maltese. When +it is of a deep bluish color, or of the soft silver-gray maltese without +stripes, it is extremely handsome. The most desirable are the bluish +lilac-colored ones, with soft fur like sealskin. The nose and pads of +the feet are dark, and the eyes are orange yellow. The maltese and white +cat when well marked is extremely handsome, and there is no prettier +kitten than the maltese and white. + +The black and white, yellow and white, blue and white, and in fact, any +self-colored and white cat is a mixture of the other breeds. If well +marked they are extremely handsome and are usually bright and +intelligent. + +The solid gray cat is very rare. It is, in fact, a tabby without the +black stripes or spots. + +In Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea there used to be no cat of any +kind. The Siamese cat has been imported to Australia, and some +authorities claim that the cats known in this country as Australian cats +are of Siamese origin. Madagascar is a catless region. + +There is in this country a variety known as the "coon cat," which is +handsome, especially in the solid black. Its native home is in Maine, +and it is thought by many to have originated with the ordinary cat and +the raccoon. It grows somewhat larger than the ordinary cat, with thick, +woolly fur and an extremely bushy tail. It is fond of outdoor life, and +when kept as a pet must be allowed to run out of doors or it is apt to +become so savage and disagreeable that nothing can be done with it. When +it is allowed its freedom, however, it becomes affectionate, +intelligent, and is usually a handsome cat. + +The term "Dutch rabbit markings" refers to the white markings on the cat +of two or three colors. Evidently, the cats themselves understand the +value of Dutch rabbit markings, as one which has them is invariably +proud of them. A cat that has white mittens, for instance, is often +inordinately vain, and keeps them in the most immaculate state of +cleanliness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE + + +Montaigne it was who said: "We have some intelligence of their senses: +so have also the beasts of ours in much the same measure. They flatter +us, menace us, need us, and we them. It is manifestly evident that there +is among them a full and entire communication, and that they understand +each other." + +That this applies to cats is certainly true. Did you ever notice how a +mother cat talks to her children, and simply by the utterances of her +voice induces them to abandon their play and go with her, sometimes with +the greatest reluctance, to some place that suited her whim--or her +wisdom? + +Dupont de Nemours, a naturalist of the eighteenth century, made himself +ridiculous in the eyes of his compatriots by seeking to penetrate the +mysteries of animal language. "Those who utter sounds," he affirmed, +"attach significance to them; their fellows do the same, and those +sounds originally inspired by passion and repeated under similar +recurrent circumstances, become the abiding expressions of the passions +that gave rise to them." + +Fortified by this theory he devoted a couple of years to the study of +crow language, and made himself ridiculous in the eyes of his +adversaries by attempting to translate a nightingale's song. + +Chateaubriand was much interested in Dupont de Nemours's researches into +the language of cats. "Its claws," says the latter, "and the power of +climbing trees which its claws give it, furnish the cat with resources +of experience and ideas denied the dog. The cat, also, has the advantage +of a language which has the same vowels as pronounced by the dog, +and with six consonants in addition, _m, n, g, h, v_, and _f_. +Consequently the cat has a greater number of words. These two causes, +the finer structure of its paws, and the larger scope of oral language, +endow the solitary cat with greater cunning and skill as a hunter than +the dog." + +Abbe Galiani also says: "For centuries cats have been reared, but I do +not find they have ever been really studied. I have a male and a female +cat. I have cut them off from all communication with cats outside the +house, and closely observe their proceedings. During their courtship +they never once miowed: the miow, therefore, is not the language of +love, but rather the call of the absent. Another positive discovery I +have made is that the voice of the male is entirely different from that +of the female, as it should be. I am sure there are more than twenty +different inflections in the language of cats, and there is really a +'tongue' for they always employ the same sound to express the same +thing." + +I heartily concur with him, and in addition have often noticed the wide +difference between the voice and manner of expression of the gelded cat +and the ordinary tom. The former has a thin, high voice with much +smaller vocabulary. As a rule, the gelded cat does not "mew" to make +known his wants, but employs his voice for conversational purposes. A +mother cat "talks" much more than any other, and more when she has small +kittens than at other times. + +Cat language has been reduced to etymology in several tongues. In Arabia +their speech is called naoua; in Chinese, ming; in Greek, larungizein; +in Sanscrit, madj, vid, bid; in German, miauen; in French miauler; and +in English, mew or "miaouw." + +Perhaps, if Professor Garner had turned his attention to cat language +instead of monkeys we would know more about it. But a French professor, +Alphonse Leon Grimaldi, of Paris, claims that cats can talk as readily +as human beings, and that he has learned their language so as to be able +to converse with them to some extent. Grimaldi goes even further: he not +only says that he knows such a language, but he states definitely that +there are about six hundred words in it, that it is more like modern +Chinese than anything else, and to prove this contention, gives a small +vocabulary. + +Most of us would prefer to accept St. George Mivart's conclusions, that +the difference between all animals and human beings is that while they +have some means of communication, or language, we only have the gift of +speech. Among the eighteen distinct active powers which he attributes to +the cat, he quotes: "16th, powers of pleasurable or painful excitement +on the occurrence of sense-perceptions with imaginations, +_emotions_;" and "17th, a power of expressing feelings by sounds or +gestures which may affect other individuals,--_emotional +language_." + +Again he says: "The cat has a language of sounds and gestures to express +its feelings and emotions. So have we. But we have further--which +neither the cat, nor the bird, nor the beast has--a language and +gestures to express our thoughts." The sum of his conclusions seems to +be that while the cat has a most highly developed nervous system, and +much of what is known as "animal intelligence," it is not a human +intelligence--not consciousness, but "con-sentience." + +Elsewhere St. George Mivart doubts if a cat distinguishes odors as such. +Perhaps a cat starts for the kitchen the instant he smells meat because +of the mental association of the scent with the gratification of hunger; +but why, pray tell, do some cats evince such delight in delicate +perfumes? Our own Pomp the First, for instance, had a most demonstrative +fondness for violets, and liked the scent of all flowers. One winter I +used to bring home a bunch of Parma or Russian violets every day or two, +and put them in a small glass bowl of water. It soon became necessary to +put them on the highest shelf in the room, and even then Pompey would +find them. Often have I placed them on the piano, and a few minutes +later seen him enter the room, lift his nose, give a few sniffs, and +then go straight to the piano, bury his nose in the violets, and hold it +there in perfect ecstacy. And usually, wherever they were placed, the +bunch was found the next morning on the floor, where Pompey had carried +the violets, and holding them between his paws for a time, had surfeited +himself with their delicious fragrance. + +Still, I am not prepared to say that Pompey had any word for violets, or +for anything else that ministered to his delight. It was enough for him +to be happy; and he had better ways of expressing it. + +Cats do have the power of making people understand what they want done, +but so far as my knowledge of them goes, some of the most intelligent +ones "talk" the least. Thomas Erastus, whose intelligence sometimes +amounts to a knowledge that seems almost uncanny, seldom utters a sound. + +There is--or was--a black cat belonging to the city jail of a +Californian town, named "Inspector Byrnes," because of his remarkable +assistance to the police force. When, one night, a prisoner in the jail +had stuffed the cracks to his cell with straw, and turned on the gas in +an attempt to commit suicide, "Inspector Byrnes" hurried off and +notified the night keeper that something was wrong, and induced him to +go to the cell in time to save the prisoner's life. He once notified the +police when a fire broke out on the premises, and at another time made +such a fuss that they followed him--to discover a woman trying to hang +herself. Again, some of the prisoners plotted to escape, and the cat +crawled through the hole they had filed and called the warden's +attention to it. In fact, there was no doubt that "Inspector Byrnes" +considered himself assistant warden at the jail, and he did not waste +much time in talk either. + +The Pretty Lady had ways of her own to make us know when things were +wrong in the household, although she used to utter a great many sounds, +either of pleasure or perturbation, which we came to understand. I +remember one morning, when my sister was ill upstairs, that I had +breakfasted and sat down to read my morning's mail, when the Pretty Lady +came, uttering sounds that denoted dissatisfaction with matters +somewhere. I was busy, and at first paid no attention to her; but she +grew more persistent, so that I finally laid down my letters and asked: +"What is it, Puss? Haven't you had breakfast enough?" I went out to the +kitchen, and she followed, all the time protesting articulately. She +would not touch the meat I offered, but evidently wanted something +entirely different. Just then my sister came down and said:-- + +"I wish you would go up and see H. She is suffering terribly, and I +don't know what to do for her." + +At that the Pretty Lady led the way into the hall and up the stairs, +pausing at every third step to make sure I was following, and leading me +straight to my sister. Then she settled herself calmly on the foot-board +and closed her eyes, as though the whole affair was no concern of hers. +Afterward, my sister said that when the pain became almost unendurable, +so that she tossed about and groaned, the Pretty Lady came close to her +face and talked to her, just as she did to her kittens when they were in +distress, showing plainly that she sympathized with and would help her. +When she found it impossible to do this, she hurried down to me. And +then having got me actually up to my sister's bedside, she threw off her +own burden of anxiety and settled into her usual calm content. + +"My Goliath is at the helm now," she expressed by her attitude, "and the +world is sure to go right a little longer while I take a nap." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. Winslow + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CATS *** + +This file should be named 7cats10.txt or 7cats10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7cats11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7cats10a.txt + +Produced by Dr. Dwight Holden, Ted Garvin, David Garcia +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Concerning Cats + My Own and Some Others + +Author: Helen M. Winslow + +Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9501] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CATS *** + + + + +Produced by Dr. Dwight Holden, Ted Garvin, David Garcia +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +CONCERNING CATS + +My Own and Some Others + +By Helen M. Winslow + +Editor of "The Club Woman" + + + +To the + +"PRETTY LADY" + +WHO NEVER BETRAYED A SECRET, BROKE A PROMISE, OR +PROVED AN UNFAITHFUL FRIEND; WHO HAD +ALL THE VIRTUES AND NONE OF +THE FAILINGS OF HER SEX + +I Dedicate this Volume + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. CONCERNING THE PRETTY LADY. + II. CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS. + III. CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS. + IV. CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS. + V. CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS. + VI. CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND. + VII. CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS. + VIII. CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN AMERICA. + IX. CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY. + X. CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS. + XI. CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES. + XII. CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS. + XIII. CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS. + XIV. CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE. + + + + + + +_Concerning Cats_ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +CONCERNING THE "PRETTY LADY" + + +She was such a Pretty Lady, and gentle withal; so quiet and eminently +ladylike in her behavior, and yet dignified and haughtily reserved as a +duchess. Still it is better, under certain circumstances, to be a cat +than to be a duchess. And no duchess of the realm ever had more faithful +retainers or half so abject subjects. + +Do not tell me that cats never love people; that only places have real +hold upon their affections. The Pretty Lady was contented wherever I, +her most humble slave, went with her. She migrated with me from +boarding-house to sea-shore cottage; then to regular housekeeping; up to +the mountains for a summer, and back home, a long day's journey on the +railway; and her attitude was always "Wheresoever thou goest I will go, +and thy people shall be my people." + +I have known, and loved, and studied many cats, but my knowledge of her +alone would convince me that cats love people--in their dignified, +reserved way, and when they feel that their love is not wasted; that +they reason, and that they seldom act from impulse. + +I do not remember that I was born with an inordinate fondness for cats; +or that I cried for them as an infant. I do not know, even, that my +childhood was marked by an overweening pride in them; this, perhaps, was +because my cruel parents established a decree, rigid and unbending as +the laws of the Medes and Persians, that we must never have more than +one cat at a time. Although this very law may argue that predilection, +at an early age, for harboring everything feline which came in my way, +which has since become at once a source of comfort and distraction. + +After a succession of feline dynasties, the kings and queens of which +were handsome, ugly, sleek, forlorn, black, white, deaf, spotted, and +otherwise marked, I remember fastening my affections securely upon one +kitten who grew up to be the ugliest, gauntest, and dingiest specimen I +ever have seen. In the days of his kittenhood I christened him "Tassie" +after his mother; but as time sped on, and the name hardly comported +with masculine dignity, this was changed to Tacitus, as more befitting +his sex. He had a habit of dodging in and out of the front door, which +was heavy, and which sometimes swung together before he was well out of +it. As a consequence, a caudal appendage with two broken joints was one +of his distinguishing features. Besides a broken tail, he had ears which +bore the marks of many a hard-fought battle, and an expression which for +general "lone and lorn"-ness would have discouraged even Mrs. Gummidge. +But I loved him, and judging from the disconsolate and long-continued +wailing with which he rilled the house whenever I was away, my affection +was not unrequited. + +But my real thraldom did not begin until I took the Pretty Lady's +mother. We had not been a week in our first house before a handsomely +striped tabby, with eyes like beautiful emeralds, who had been the pet +and pride of the next-door neighbor for five years, came over and +domiciled herself. In due course of time she proudly presented us with +five kittens. Educated in the belief that one cat was all that was +compatible with respectability, I had four immediately disposed of, +keeping the prettiest one, which grew up into the beautiful, +fascinating, and seductive maltese "Pretty Lady," with white trimmings +to her coat. The mother of Pretty Lady used to catch two mice at a time, +and bringing them in together, lay one at my feet and say as plainly as +cat language can say, "There, you eat that one, and I'll eat this," and +then seem much surprised and disgusted that I had not devoured mine when +she had finished her meal. + +We were occupying a furnished house for the summer, however, and as we +were to board through the winter, I took only the kitten back to town, +thinking the mother would return to her former home, just over the +fence. But no. For two weeks she refused all food and would not once +enter the other house. Then I went out for her, and hearing my voice she +came in and sat down before me, literally scolding me for a quarter of +an hour. I shall be laughed at, but actual tears stood in her lovely +green eyes and ran down her aristocratic nose, attesting her grief and +accusing me, louder than her wailing, of perfidy. + +I could not keep her. She would not return to her old home. I finally +compromised by carrying her in a covered basket a mile and a half and +bestowing her upon a friend who loves cats nearly as well as I. But +although she was petted, and praised, and fed on the choicest of +delicacies, she would not be resigned. After six weeks of mourning, she +disappeared, and never was heard of more. Whether she sought a new and +more constant mistress, or whether, in her grief at my shameless +abandonment of her, she went to some lonely pier and threw herself off +the dock, will never be known. But her reproachful gaze and tearful +emerald eyes haunted me all winter. Many a restless night did I have to +reproach myself for abandoning a creature who so truly loved me; and in +many a dream did she return to heap shame and ignominy upon my repentant +head. + +This experience determined me to cherish her daughter, whom, rather, I +cherished as her son, until there were three little new-born kittens, +which in a moment of ignorance I "disposed of" at once. Naturally, the +young mother fell exceedingly ill. In the most pathetic way she dragged +herself after me, moaning and beseeching for help. Finally, I succumbed, +went to a neighbor's where several superfluous kittens had arrived the +night before, and begged one. It was a little black fellow, cold and +half dead; but the Pretty Lady was beside herself with joy when I +bestowed it upon her. For two days she would not leave the box where I +established their headquarters, and for months she refused to wean it, +or to look upon it as less than absolutely perfect. I may say that the +Pretty Lady lived to be nine years old, and had, during that brief +period, no less than ninety-three kittens, besides two adopted ones; but +never did she bestow upon any of her own offspring that wealth of pride +and affection which was showered upon black Bobbie. + +When the first child of her adoption was two weeks old, I was ill one +morning, and did not appear at breakfast. It had always been her custom +to wait for my coming down in the morning, evidently considering it a +not unimportant part of her duty to see me well launched for the day. +Usually she sat at the head of the stairs and waited patiently until she +heard me moving about. Sometimes she came in and sat on a chair at the +head of my bed, or gently touched my face with her nose or paw. Although +she knew she was at liberty to sleep in my room, she seldom did so, +except when she had an infant on her hands. At first she invariably kept +him in a lower drawer of my bureau. When he was large enough, she +removed him to the foot of the bed, where for a week or two her maternal +solicitude and sociable habits of nocturnal conversation with her +progeny interfered seriously with my night's rest. If my friends used to +notice a wild and haggard appearance of unrest about me at certain +periods of the year, the reason stands here confessed. + +I was ill when black Bobbie was two weeks old. The Pretty Lady waited +until breakfast was over, and as I did not appear, came up and jumped on +the bed, where she manifested some curiosity as to my lack of active +interest in the world's affairs. + +"Now, pussy," I said, putting out my hand and stroking her back, "I'm +sick this morning. When you were sick, I went and got you a kitten. +Can't you get me one?" + +This was all. My sister came in then and spoke to me, and the Pretty +Lady left us at once; but in less than two minutes she came back with +her cherished kitten in her mouth. Depositing him in my neck, she stood +and looked at me, as much as to say:-- + +"There, you can take him awhile. He cured me and I won't be selfish; I +will share him with you." + +I was ill for three days, and all that time the kitten was kept with me. +When his mother wanted him, she kept him on the foot of the bed, where +she nursed, and lapped, and scrubbed him until it seemed as if she must +wear even his stolid nerves completely out. But whenever she felt like +going out she brought him up and tucked him away in the hollow of my +neck, with a little guttural noise that, interpreted, meant:-- + +"There, now you take care of him awhile. I'm all tired out. Don't wake +him up." + +But when the infant had dropped soundly asleep, she invariably came back +and demanded him; and not only demanded, but dragged him forth from his +lair by the nape of the neck, shrieking and protesting, to the foot of +the bed again, where he was obliged to go through another course of +scrubbing and vigorous maternal attentions that actually kept his fur +from growing as fast as the coats of less devotedly cared-for kittens +grow. + +When I was well enough to leave my room, she transferred him to my lower +bureau drawer, and then to a vantage-point behind an old lounge. But she +never doubted, apparently, that it was the loan of that kitten that +rescued me from an untimely grave. + +I have lost many an hour of much-needed sleep from my cat's habit of +coming upstairs at four A.M. and jumping suddenly upon the bed; perhaps +landing on the pit of my stomach. Waking in that fashion, unsympathetic +persons would have pardoned me if I had indulged in injudicious +language, or had even thrown the cat violently from my otherwise +peaceful couch. But conscience has not to upbraid me with any of these +things. I flatter myself that I bear even this patiently; I remember to +have often made sleepy but pleasant remarks to the faithful little +friend whose affection for me and whose desire to behold my countenance +was too great to permit her to wait till breakfast time. + +If I lay awake for hours afterward, perhaps getting nothing more than +literal "cat-naps," I consoled myself with remembering how Richelieu, +and Wellington, and Mohammed, and otherwise great as well as +discriminating persons, loved cats; I remembered, with some stirrings of +secret pride, that it is only the artistic nature, the truly aesthetic +soul that appreciates poetry, and grace, and all refined beauty, who +truly loves cats; and thus meditating with closed eyes, I courted +slumber again, throughout the breaking dawn, while the cat purred in +delight close at hand. + +The Pretty Lady was evidently of Angora or coon descent, as her fur was +always longer and silkier than that of ordinary cats. She was fond of +all the family. When we boarded in Boston, we kept her in a front room, +two flights from the ground. Whenever any of us came in the front door, +she knew it. No human being could have told, sitting in a closed room in +winter, two flights up, the identity of a person coming up the steps and +opening the door. But the Pretty Lady, then only six months old, used to +rouse from her nap in a big chair, or from the top of a folding bed, +jump down, and be at the hall door ready to greet the incomer, before +she was halfway up the stairs. The cat never got down for the wrong +person, and she never neglected to meet any and every member of our +family who might be entering. The irreverent scoffer may call it +"instinct," or talk about the "sense of smell." I call it sagacity. + +One summer we all went up to the farm in northern Vermont, and decided +to take her and her son, "Mr. McGinty," with us. We put them both in a +large market-basket and tied the cover securely. On the train Mr. +McGinty manifested a desire to get out, and was allowed to do so, a +stout cord having been secured to his collar first, and the other end +tied to the car seat. He had a delightful journey, once used to the +noise and motion of the train. He sat on our laps, curled up on the seat +and took naps, or looked out of the windows with evident puzzlement at +the way things had suddenly taken to flying; he even made friends with +the passengers, and in general amused himself as any other traveller +would on an all-day's journey by rail, except that he did not risk his +eyesight by reading newspapers. But the Pretty Lady had not travelled +for some years, and did not enjoy the trip as well as formerly; on the +contrary she curled herself into a round tight ball in one corner of the +basket till the journey's end was reached. + +Once at the farm she seemed contented as long as I remained with her. +There was plenty of milk and cream, and she caught a great many mice. +She was far too dainty to eat them, but she had an inherent pleasure in +catching mice, just like her more plebeian sisters; and she enjoyed +presenting them to Mr. McGinty or me, or some other worthy object of her +solicitude. + +She was at first afraid of "the big outdoors." The wide, wind-blown +spaces, the broad, sunshiny sky, the silence and the roominess of it +all, were quite different from her suburban experiences; and the farm +animals, too, were in her opinion curiously dangerous objects. Big Dan, +the horse, was truly a horrible creature; the rooster was a new and +suspicious species of biped, and the bleating calves objects of her +direst hatred. + +The pig in his pen possessed for her the most horrid fascination. Again +and again would she steal out and place herself where she could see that +dreadful, strange, pink, fat creature inside his own quarters. She would +fix her round eyes widely upon him in blended fear and admiration. If +the pig uttered the characteristic grunt of his race, the Pretty Lady at +first ran swiftly away; but afterward she used to turn and gaze +anxiously at us, as if to say:-- + +"Do you hear that? Isn't this a truly horrible creature?" and in other +ways evince the same sort of surprise that a professor in the Peabody +Museum might, were the skeleton of the megatherium suddenly to accost +him after the manner peculiar to its kind. + +It was funnier, even, to see Mr. McGinty on the morning after his +arrival at the farm, as he sallied forth and made acquaintance with +other of God's creatures than humans and cats, and the natural enemy of +his kind, the dog. In his suburban home he had caught rats and captured +on the sly many an English sparrow. When he first investigated his new +quarters on the farm, he discovered a beautiful flock of very large +birds led by one of truly gorgeous plumage. + +"Ah!" thought Mr. McGinty, "this is a great and glorious country, where +I can have such birds as these for the catching. Tame, too. I'll have +one for breakfast." + +So he crouched down, tiger-like, and crept carefully along to a +convenient distance and was preparing to spring, when the large and +gorgeous bird looked up from his worm and remarked:-- + +"Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut!" and, taking his wives, withdrew toward the +barn. + +Mr. McGinty drew back amazed. "This is a queer bird," he seemed to say; +"saucy, too. However, I'll soon have him," and he crept more carefully +than before up to springing distance, when again this most gorgeous bird +drew up and exclaimed, with a note of annoyance:-- + +"Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut! What ails that old cat, anyway?" And again he +led his various wives barn-ward. + +Mr. McGinty drew up with a surprised air, and apparently made a cursory +study of the leading anatomical features of this strange bird; but he +did not like to give up, and soon crouched and prepared for another +onslaught. This time Mr. Chanticleer allowed the cat to come up close to +his flock, when he turned and remarked in the most amicable manner, +"Cut-cut-cut-cut!" which interpreted seemed to mean: "Come now; that's +all right. You're evidently new here; but you'd better take my advice +and not fool with me." + +Anyhow, with this, down went McGinty's hope of a bird breakfast "to the +bottom of the sea," and he gave up the hunt. He soon made friends, +however, with every animal on the place, and so endeared himself to the +owners that he lived out his days there with a hundred acres and more as +his own happy hunting-ground. + +Not so, the Pretty Lady. I went away on a short visit after a few weeks, +leaving her behind. From the moment of my disappearance she was uneasy +and unhappy. On the fifth day she disappeared. When I returned and found +her not, I am not ashamed to say that I hunted and called her +everywhere, nor even that I shed a few tears when days rolled into weeks +and she did not appear, as I realized that she might be starving, or +have suffered tortures from some larger animal. + +There are many remarkable stories of cats who find their way home across +almost impossible roads and enormous distances. There is a saying, +believed by many people, "You can't lose a cat," which can be proved by +hundreds of remarkable returns. But the Pretty Lady had absolutely no +sense of locality. She had always lived indoors and had never been +allowed to roam the neighborhood. It was five weeks before we found +trace of her, and then only by accident. My sister was passing a field +of grain, and caught a glimpse of a small creature which she at first +thought to be a woodchuck. She turned and looked at it, and called +"Pussy, pussy," when with a heart-breaking little cry of utter delight +and surprise, our beloved cat came toward her. From the first, the wide +expanse of the country had confused her; she had evidently "lost her +bearings" and was probably all the time within fifteen minutes' walk of +the farm-house. + +When found, she was only a shadow of herself, and for the first and only +time in her life we could count her ribs. She was wild with delight, and +clung to my sister's arms as though fearing to lose her; and in all the +fuss that was made over her return, no human being could have showed +more affection, or more satisfaction at finding her old friends again. + +That she really was lost, and had no sense of locality to guide her +home, was proven by her conduct after she returned to her Boston home. I +had preceded my sister, and was at the theatre on the evening when she +arrived with the Pretty Lady. The latter was carried into the kitchen, +taken from her basket, and fed. Then, instead of going around the house +and settling herself in her old home, she went into the front hall which +she had left four months before, and seated herself on the spot where +she always watched and waited when I was out. When I came home at +eleven, I saw through the screen door her "that was lost and is found." +She had been waiting to welcome me for three mortal hours. + +I wish those people who believe cats have no affection for people could +have seen her then. She would not leave me for an instant, and +manifested her love in every possible way; and when I retired for the +night, she curled up on my pillow and purred herself contentedly to +sleep, only rising when I did. After breakfast that first morning after +her return, she asked to be let out of the back door, and made me +understand that I must go with her. I did so, and she explored every +part of the back yard, entreating me in the same way she called her +kittens to keep close by her. She investigated our own premises +thoroughly and then crept carefully under the fences on either side into +the neighbor's precincts where she had formerly visited in friendly +fashion; then she came timidly back, all the time keeping watch that she +did not lose me. Having finished her tour of inspection, she went in and +led me on an investigating trip all through the house, smelling of every +corner and base-board, and insisting that every closet door should be +opened, so that she might smell each closet through in the same way. +When this was done, she settled herself in one of her old nooks for a +nap and allowed me to leave. + +But never again did she go out of sight of the house. For more than a +year she would not go even into a neighbor's yard, and when she finally +decided that it might be safe to crawl under the fences on to other +territory, she invariably turned about to sit facing the house, as +though living up to a firm determination never to lose sight of it +again. This practice she kept up until at the close of her last mortal +sickness, when she crawled into a dark place under a neighboring barn +and said good-by to earthly fears and worries forever. + +_Requiescat in pace_, my Pretty Lady. I wish all your sex had your +gentle dignity, and grace, and beauty, to say nothing of your +faithfulness and affection. Like Mother Michel's "Monmouth," it may be +said of you:-- + + "She was merely a cat, + But her Sublime Virtues place her on a level with + The Most Celebrated Mortals, + and + In Ancient Egypt + Altars would have been Erected to her + Memory." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS + + +"Oh, what a lovely cat!" is a frequent expression from visitors or +passers-by at our house. And from the Pretty Lady down through her +various sons and daughters to the present family protector and head, +"Thomas Erastus," and the Angora, "Lady Betty," there have been some +beautiful creatures. + +Mr. McGinty was a solid-color maltese, with fur like a seal for +closeness and softness, and with the disposition of an angel. He used to +be seized with sudden spasms of affection and run from one to another of +the family, rubbing his soft cheeks against ours, and kissing us +repeatedly. This he did by taking gentle little affectionate nips with +his teeth. I used to give him a certain caress, which he took as an +expression of affection. After leaving him at the farm I did not see him +again for two years. Then on a short visit, I asked for Mr. McGinty and +was told that he was in a shed chamber. I found him asleep in a box of +grain and took him out; he looked at me through sleepy eyes, turned +himself over and stretched up for the old caress. As nobody ever gave +him that but me, I take this as conclusive proof that he not only knew +me, but remembered my one peculiarity. + +Then there was old Pomp, called "old" to distinguish him from the young +Pomp of to-day, or "Pompanita." He died of pneumonia at the age of three +years; but he was the handsomest black cat--and the blackest--I have +ever seen. He had half a dozen white hairs under his chin; but his +blackness was literally like the raven's wing. Many handsome black cats +show brown in the strong sunlight, or when their fur is parted. But old +Pomp's fur was jet black clear through, and in the sunshine looked as if +he had been made up of the richest black silk velvet, his eyes, +meanwhile, being large and of the purest amber. He weighed some fifteen +pounds, and that somebody envied us the possession of him was evident, +as he was stolen two or three times during the last summer of his life. +But he came home every time; only when Death finally stole him, we had +no redress. + +"Bobinette," the black kitten referred to in the previous chapter, also +had remarkably beautiful eyes. We used to keep him in ribbons to match, +and he knew color, too, perfectly well. For instance, if we offered him +a blue or a red ribbon, he would not be quiet long enough to have it +tied on; but show him a yellow one, and he would prance across the room, +and not only stand still to have it put on, but purr and evince the +greatest pride in it. + +Bobinette had another very pretty trick of playing with the +tape-measure. He used to bring it to us and have it wound several times +around his body; then he would "chase himself" until he got it off, when +he would bring it back and ask plainly to have it wound round him again. +After a little we noticed he was wearing the tape-measure out, and so we +tried to substitute it with an old ribbon or piece of cotton tape. But +Bobinette would have none of them. On the contrary, he repeatedly +climbed on to the table and to the work-basket, and hunted patiently for +his tape-measure, and even if it were hidden in a pocket, he kept up the +search until he unearthed it; and he would invariably end by dragging +forth that particular tape-measure and bringing it to us. I need not say +that his intelligence was rewarded. + +Speaking of colors, a friend has a cat that is devoted to blue. When she +puts on a particularly pretty blue gown, the cat hastens to get into her +lap, put her face down to the material, purr, and manifest the greatest +delight; but let the same lady put on a black dress, and the cat will +not come near her. + +"Pompanita," the second Pomp in our dynasty, is a fat and billowy black +fellow, now five years old and weighing nineteen pounds. He was the last +of the Pretty Lady's ninety-three children. Only a few of this vast +progeny, however, grew to cat-hood, as she was never allowed to keep +more than one each season. The Pretty Lady, in fact, came to regard this +as the only proper method. On one occasion I had been away all day. When +I got home at night the housekeeper said, "Pussy has had five kittens, +but she won't go near them." When the Pretty Lady heard my voice, she +came and led the way to the back room where the kittens were in the +lower drawer of an unused bureau, and uttered one or two funny little +noises, intimating that matters were not altogether as they should be, +according to established rules of propriety. I understood, abstracted +four of the five kittens, and disappeared. When I came back she had +settled herself contentedly with the remaining kitten, and from that +time on was a model mother. + +Pompanita the Good has all the virtues of a good cat, and absolutely no +vices. He loves us all and loves all other cats as well. As for +fighting, he emulates the example of that veteran who boasts that during +the war he might always be found where the shot and shell were the +thickest,--under the ammunition wagon. Like most cats he has a decided +streak of vanity. My sister cut a wide, fancy collar, or ruff, of white +paper one day, and put it on Pompanita. At first he felt much abashed +and found it almost impossible to walk with it. But a few words of +praise and encouragement changed all that. + +"Oh, what a pretty Pomp he is now!" exclaimed one and another, until he +sat up coyly and cocked his head one side as if to say:-- + +"Oh, now, do you really think I look pretty?" and after a few more +assurances he got down and strutted as proudly as any peacock; much to +the discomfiture of the kitten, who wanted to play with him. And now he +will cross the yard any time to have one of those collars on. + +But Thomas Erastus is the prince of our cats to-day. He weighs seventeen +pounds, and is a soft, grayish-maltese with white paws and breast. One +Saturday night ten years ago, as we were partaking of our regular Boston +baked beans, I heard a faint mew. Looking down I saw beside me the +thinnest kitten I ever beheld. The Irish girl who presided over our +fortunes at the time used to place the palms of her hands together and +say of Thomas's appearance, "Why, mum, the two sides of 'im were just +like that." I picked him up, and he crawled pathetically into my neck +and cuddled down. + +"There," said a friend who was sitting opposite, "he's fixed himself +now. You'll keep him." + +"No, I shall not," I said, "but I will feed him a few days and give him +to my cousin." Inside half an hour, however, Thomas Erastus had assumed +the paternal air toward us that soon made us fear to lose him. Living +without Thomas now would be like a young girl's going out without a +chaperone. After that first half-hour, when he had been fed, he chased +every foreign cat off the premises, and assumed the part of a watch-dog. +To this day he will sit on the front porch or the window-sill and growl +if he sees a tramp or suspicious character approaching. He always goes +into the kitchen when the market-man calls, and orders his meat; and at +exactly five o'clock in the afternoon, when the meat is cut up and +distributed, leads the feline portion of the family into the kitchen. + +Thomas knows the time of day. For six months he waked up one housekeeper +at exactly seven o'clock in the morning, never varying two minutes. He +did this by seating himself on her chest and gazing steadfastly in her +face. Usually this waked her, but if she did not yield promptly to that +treatment he would poke her cheeks with the most velvety of paws until +she awoke. He has a habit now of going upstairs and sitting opposite the +closed door of the young man who has to rise hours before the rest of us +do, and waiting until the door is opened for him. How he knows at what +particular moment each member of the family will wake up and come forth +is a mystery, but he does. + +How do cats tell the hour of day, anyway? The old Chinese theory that +they are living clocks is, in a way, borne out by their own conduct. Not +only have my cats shown repeatedly that they know the hour of rising of +every member of the family, but they gather with as much regularity as +the ebbing of the tides, or the setting of the sun, at exactly five +o'clock in the afternoon for their supper. They are given a hearty +breakfast as soon as the kitchen fire is started in the morning. This +theoretically lasts them until five. I say theoretically, because if +they wake from their invariable naps at one, and smell lunch, they +individually wheedle some one into feeding them. But this is only +individually. Collectively they are fed at five. + +They are the most methodical creatures in the world. They go to bed +regularly at night when the family does. They are waiting in the kitchen +for breakfast when the fire is started in the morning. Then they go out +of doors and play, or hunt, or ruminate until ten o'clock, when they +come in, seek their favorite resting-places, and sleep until four. +Evidently, from four to five is a play hour, and the one who wakes first +is expected to stir up the others. But at exactly five, no matter where +they may have strayed to, every one of the three, five, or seven (as the +number may happen to be) will be sitting in his own particular place in +the kitchen, waiting with patient eagerness for supper. For each has a +particular place for eating, just as bigger folk have their places at +the dining table. Thomas Erastus sits in a corner; the space under the +table is reserved especially for Jane. Pompanita is at his mistress's +feet, and Lady Betty, the Angora, bounds to her shoulder when their meat +appears. Their table manners are quite irreproachable also. It is +considered quite unpardonable to snatch at another's piece of meat, and +a breach of the best cat-etiquette to show impatience while another is +being fed. + +I do not pretend to say that this is entirely natural. They are taught +these things as kittens, and since cats are as great sticklers for +propriety and gentle manners as any human beings can be, they never +forget it. Doubtless, this is easier because they are always well fed, +but Thomas Erastus or Jane would have to be on the verge of starvation, +I am sure, before they would "grab" from one of the other cats. And as +for the Pretty Lady, it was always necessary to see that she was +properly served. She would not eat from a dish with other cats, or, +except in extreme cases, from one they had left. Indeed, she was +remarkable in this respect. I have seen her sit on the edge of a table +where chickens were being dressed and wait patiently for a tidbit; I +have seen her left alone in the room, while on that table was a piece of +raw steak, but no temptation was ever great enough to make her touch any +of these forbidden things. She actually seemed to have a conscience. + +Only one thing on the dining table would she touch. When she was two or +three months old, she somehow got hold of the table-napkins done up in +their rings. These were always to her the most delightful playthings in +the world. As a kitten, she would play with them by the hour, if not +taken away, and go to sleep cuddled affectionately around them. She got +over this as she grew older; but when her first kitten was two or three +months old, remembering the jolly times she used to have, she would +sneak into the dining room and get the rolled napkins, carry them in her +mouth to her infant, and endeavor with patient anxiety to show him how +to play with them. Throughout nine years of motherhood she went through +the same performance with every kitten she had. They never knew what to +do with the napkins, or cared to know, and would have none of them. But +she never got discouraged. She would climb up on the sideboard, or into +the china closet, and even try to get into drawers where the napkins +were laid away in their rings. If she could get hold of one, she would +carry it with literal groans and evident travail of spirit to her +kitten, and by further groans and admonitions seem to say:-- + +"Child, see this beautiful plaything I have brought you. This is a part +of your education; it is just as necessary for you to know how to play +with this as to poke your paw under the closet door properly. Wake up, +now, and play with it." + +Sometimes, when the table was laid over night, we used to hear her +anguished groans in the stillness of the night. In the morning every +napkin belonging to the family would be found in a different part of the +house, and perhaps a ring would be missing. These periods, however, only +lasted as long, in each new kitten's training, as the few weeks that she +had amused herself with them at their age. Then she would drop the +subject, and napkins had no further interest than the man in the moon +until another kitten arrived at the age when she considered them a +necessary part of his education. + +Professor Shaler in his interesting book on the intelligence of animals +gives the cat only the merest mention, intimating that he considers them +below par in this respect, and showing little real knowledge of them. I +wish he might have known the Pretty Lady. + +Once our Lady Betty had four little Angora kittens. She was probably the +most aristocratic cat in the country, for she kept a wet nurse. Poor +Jane, of commoner strain, had two small kittens the day after the Angora +family appeared. Jane's plebeian infants promptly disappeared, but she +took just as promptly to the more aristocratic family and fulfilled the +duties of nurse and maid. Both cats and four kittens occupied the same +bureau drawer, and when either cat wanted the fresh air she left the +other in charge; and there was a tacit understanding between them that +the fluffy, fat babies must never be left alone one instant. Four small +and lively kittens in the house are indeed things of beauty, and a joy +as long as they last. Four fluffy little Angora balls they were Chin, +Chilla, Buffie, and Orange Pekoe, names that explain their color. And +Jane, wet nurse and waiting-maid, had to keep as busy as the old woman +that lived in a shoe. Jane it was who must look after the infants when +Lady Betty wished to leave the house. Jane it was who must scrub the +furry quartet until their silky fur stood up in bunches the wrong way +all over their chubby little sides; Jane must sleep with them nights, +and be ready to furnish sustenance at any moment of day or night; and +above all, Jane must watch them anxiously and incessantly in waking +hours, uttering those little protesting murmurs of admonition which +mother cats deem so necessary toward the proper training of kittens. +And, poor Jane! As lady's maid she must bathe Lady Betty's brow every +now and then, as the more finely strung Angora succumbed to the nervous +strain of kitten-rearing, and she turned affectionately to Jane for +comfort. A prettier sight, or a more profitable study of the love of +animals for each other was never seen than Lady Betty, her infants, and +her nurse-maid. And yet, there are people who pronounce cats stupid. + +One evening I returned from the theatre late and roused up the four +fluffy kittens, who, seeing the gas turned on, started in for a frolic. +The lady mother did not approve of midnight carousals on the part of +infants, and protested with mild wails against their joyful caperings. +Finally, Orange Pekoe got into the closet and Lady Betty pursued him. +But suddenly a strange odor was detected. Sitting on her haunches she +smelled all over the bottom of the skirt which had just been hung up, +stopping every few seconds to utter a little worried note of warning to +the kittens. The infants, however, displayed a quite human disregard of +parental authority and gambolled on unconcernedly under the skirt; +reminding one of the old New England primer style of tales, showing how +disobedient children flaunt themselves in the face of danger, despite +the judicious advice of their elders. Lady Betty could do nothing with +them, and grew more nervous and worried every minute in consequence. +Suddenly she bethought herself of that never-failing source of strength +and comfort, Jane. She went into the next room, and, although I had not +heard a sound, returned in a moment with the maltese. Jane was ushered +into the closet, and soon scented out the skirt. Then she too sat on her +haunches and gave a long, careful sniff, turned round and uttered one +"purr-t-t," and took the Angora off with her. Jane had discovered that +there was no element of danger in the closet, and had imparted her +knowledge to the finely strung Angora in an instant. And so, taking her +back to bed, she "bathed her brow" with gentle lappings until Lady Betty +sank off to quiet sleep, soothed and comforted. + +It is not easy to study a cat. They are like sensitive plants, and shut +themselves instinctively away from the human being who does not care for +them. They know when a man or a woman loves them, almost before they +come into the human presence; and it is almost useless for the +unsympathetic person to try to study a cat. But the thousands who do +love cats know that they are the most individual animals in the world. +Dogs are much alike in their love for mankind, their obedience, +faithfulness, and, in different degrees, their sagacity. But there is as +much individuality in cats as in people. + +Dogs and horses are our slaves; cats never. This does not prove them +without affection, as some people seem to think; on the contrary, it +proves their peculiar and characteristic dignity and self-respect. +Women, poets, and especially artists, like cats; delicate natures only +can realize their sensitive nervous systems. + +The Pretty Lady's mother talked almost incessantly when she was in the +house. One of her habits was to get on the window-seat outside and +demand to be let in. If she was not waited upon immediately, she would, +when the door was finally opened, stop when halfway in and scold +vigorously. The tones of her voice and the expression of her face were +so exactly like those of a scolding, vixenish woman that she caused many +a hearty laugh by her tirades. + +Thomas Erastus, however, seldom utters a sound, and at the rare +intervals when he condescends to purr, he can only be heard by holding +one's ear close to his great, soft sides. But he has the most remarkable +ways. He will open every door in the house from the inside; he will even +open blinds, getting his paw under the fastening and working patiently +at it, with his body on the blind itself, until the hook flies back and +it finally opens. One housekeeper trained him to eat his meat close up +in one corner of the kitchen. This custom he kept up after she went +away, until new and uncommonly frisky kittens annoyed him so that his +place was transferred to the top of an old table. When he got hungry in +those days, however, he used to go and crowd close up in his corner and +look so pathetically famished that food was generally forthcoming at +once. Thomas was formerly very much devoted to the lady who lived next +door, and was as much at home in her house as in ours. Her family rose +an hour or two earlier than ours in the morning, and their breakfast +hour came first. I should attribute Thomas's devotion to Mrs. T. to this +fact, since he invariably presented himself at her dining-room window +and wheedled her into feeding him, were it not that his affection seemed +just as strong throughout the day. It was interesting to see him go over +and rattle her screen doors, front, back, or side, knowing perfectly +well that he would bring some one to open and let him in. + +Thomas has a really paternal air toward the rest of the family. One +spring night, as usual on retiring, I went to the back door to call in +the cats. Thomas Erastus was in my sister's room, but none of the others +were to be seen; nor did they come at once, evidently having strayed in +their play beyond the sound of my voice. Thomas, upstairs, heard my +continued call and tried for some time to get out. M. had shut her door, +thinking to keep in the one already safe. But the more I called, the +more persistently determined he became to get out. At last M. opened her +window and let him on to the sloping roof of the "L," from which he +could descend through a gnarled old apple tree. Meanwhile I left the +back door and went on with my preparations for the night. About ten +minutes later I went and called the cats again. It was a moonlight night +and I saw six delinquent cats coming in a flock across the open field +behind the house,--all marshalled by Mr. Thomas. He evidently hunted +them up and called them in himself; then he sat on the back porch and +waited until the last kit was safely in, before he stalked gravely in +with an air which said as plainly as words:-- + +"There, it takes _me_ to do anything with this family." + +None of my cats would think of responding to the call of "Kitty, Kitty," +or "Puss, Puss." They are early taught their names and answer to them. +Neither would one answer to the name of another, except in occasional +instances where jealousy prompts them to do so. We have to be most +careful when we go out of an evening, not to let Thomas Erastus get out +at the same time. In case he does, he will follow us either to the +railroad station or to the electric cars and wait in some near-by nook +until we come back. I have known him to sit out from seven until +midnight of a cold, snowy winter evening, awaiting our return from the +theatre. When we alight from the cars he is nowhere to be seen. But +before we have gone many steps, lo! Thomas Erastus is behind or beside +us, proudly escorting his mistresses home, but looking neither at them, +nor to the right or left. Not until he reaches the porch does he allow +himself to be petted. But on our way to the cars his attitude is +different. He is as frisky as a kitten. In vain do we try to "shoo" him +back, or catch him. He prances along, just out of reach, but +tantalizingly close; when we get aboard our car, we know he is safe in +some corner gazing sadly after us, and that no danger can drive him home +until we reappear. + +Both Thomas and Pompanita take a deep interest in all household affairs, +although in this respect they do not begin to show the curiosity of the +Pretty Lady. Never a piece of furniture was changed in he house that she +did not immediately notice, the first time she came into the room +afterward; and she invariably jumped up on the article and thoroughly +investigated affairs before settling down again. Every parcel that came +in must be examined, and afterward she must lie on the paper or inside +the box that it came in, always doing this with great solemnity and +gazing earnestly out of her large, intelligent dark eyes. Toward the +close of her life she was greatly troubled at any unusual stir in the +household. She liked to have company, but nothing disturbed her more +than to have a man working in the cellar, putting in coal, cutting wood, +or doing such work. She used then to follow us uneasily about and look +earnestly up into our faces, as if to say:-- + +"Girls, this is not right. Everything is all upset here and 'a' the +world's gang agley.' Why don't you fix it?" + +She was the politest creature, too. That was the reason of her name. In +her youth she was christened "Pansy"; then "Cleopatra," "Susan," "Lady +Jane Grey" and the "Duchess." But her manners were so punctiliously +perfect, and she was such a "pretty lady" always and everywhere; +moreover she had such a habit of sitting with her hands folded politely +across her gentle, lace-vandyked bosom that the only sobriquet that ever +clung was the one that expressed herself the most perfectly. She was in +every sense a "Pretty Lady." For years she ate with us at the table. Her +chair was placed next to mine, and no matter where she was or how +soundly she had been sleeping, when the dinner bell rang she was the +first to get to her seat. Then she sat patiently until I fixed a dainty +meal in a saucer and placed it in the chair beside her, when she ate it +in the same well-bred way she did everything. + +Thomas Erastus hurt his foot one day. Rather he got it hurt during a +matutinal combat at which he was forced, being the head of the family, +to be present, although he is far above the midnight carousals of his +kind. Thomas Erastus sometimes loves to consider himself an invalid. +When his doting mistress was not looking, he managed to step off on that +foot quite lively, especially if his mortal enemy, a disreputable black +tramp, skulked across the yard. But let Thomas Erastus see a feminine +eye gazing anxiously at him through an open window, and he immediately +hobbled on three legs; then he would stop and sit down and assume so +pathetic an expression of patient suffering that the mistress's heart +would melt, and Thomas Erastus would find himself being borne into the +house and placed on the softest sofa. Once she caught him down cellar. +There is a window to which he has easy access, and where he can go in +and out a hundred times a day. Evidently he had planned to do so at that +moment. But seeing his fond mistress, he sat down on the cellar floor, +and with his most fetching expression gazed wistfully back and forth +from her to the window. And of course she picked him up carefully and +put him on the window ledge. Thomas Erastus has all the innocent guile +of a successful politician. He could manage things slicker than the +political bosses, an' he would. + +One summer Thomas Erastus moved--an event of considerable importance in +his placid existence. He had to travel a short distance on the +steam-cars; and worse, he needs must endure the indignity of travelling +that distance in a covered basket. But his dignity would not suffer him +to do more than send forth one or two mournful wails of protest. After +being kept in his new house for a couple of days, he was allowed to go +out and become familiar with his surroundings--not without fear and +trepidation on the part of his doting mistress that he might make a bold +strike for his former home. But Thomas Erastus felt he had a mission to +perform for his race. He would disprove that mistaken theory that a cat, +no matter how kindly he is treated, cares more for places than for +people. Consequently he would not dream of going back to his old haunts. + +No; he sat down in the front yard and took a long look at his +surroundings, the neighboring lots, a field of grass, a waving +corn-field. He had already convinced himself that the new house was +home, because in it were all the old familiar things, and he had been +allowed to investigate every bit of it and to realize what had happened. +So after looking well about him he made a series of tours of +investigation. First, he took a bee-line for the farthest end of the +nearest vacant lot; then he chose the corn-field; then the beautiful +broad grounds of the neighbor below; then across the street; but between +each of these little journeys he took a bee-line back to his +starting-point, sat down in front of the new house, and "got his +bearings," just as evidently as though he could have said out loud, +"This is my home and I mustn't lose it." In this way he convinced +himself that where he lives is the centre of the universe, and that the +world revolves around him. And he has since been as happy as a +cricket,--yea, happier, for death and destruction await the unfortunate +cricket where Thomas Erastus thrives. + +But don't say a cat can't or won't be moved. It's your own fault if he +won't. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + + +Every observing reader of Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford's stories knows +that she is fond of cats and understands them. Her heroines usually +have, among other feminine belongings and accessories, one or more cats. +"Four great Persian cats haunted her every footstep," she says of Honor, +in the "Composite Wife." "A sleepy, snowy creature like some +half-animated ostrich plume; a satanic thing with fiery eyes that to Mr. +Chipperley's perception were informed with the very bottomless flames; +another like a golden fleece, caressing, half human; and a little +mouse-colored imp whose bounds and springs and feathery tail-lashings +not only did infinite damage among the Venetian and Dresden +knick-knackerie, but among Mr. Chipperley's nerves." + +In her beautiful, old-fashioned home at Newburyport, Mass., she has two +beloved cats. But I will not attempt to improve on her own account of +them:-- + +"As for my own cats,--their name has been legion, although a few remain +preeminent. There was Miss Spot who came to us already named, preferring +our domicile to the neighboring one she had. Her only son was so black +that he was known as Ink Spot, but her only daughter was so altogether +ideal and black, too, that she was known as Beauty Spot. Beauty Spot led +a sorrowful life, and was fortunately born clothed in black or her +mourning would have been expensive, as she was always in a bereaved +condition, her drowned offspring making a shoal in the Merrimac, +although she had always plenty left. She solaced herself with music. She +would never sit in any one's lap but mine, and in mine only when I sang; +and then only when I sang 'The Last Rose of Summer.' This is really +true. But she would spring into my husband's lap if he whistled. She +would leave her sleep reluctantly, start a little way, and retreat, +start and retreat again, and then give one bound and light on his knee +or his arm and reach up one paw and push it repeatedly across his mouth +like one playing the jew's-harp; I suppose to get at the sound. She +always went to walk with us and followed us wherever we went about the +island. + +"Lucifer and Phosphor have been our cats for the last ten years: +Lucifer, entirely black, Phosphor, as yellow as saffron, a real golden +fleece. My sister lived in town and going away for the summer left her +cat in a neighbor's care, and the neighbor moved away meanwhile and left +the cat to shift for herself. She went down to the apothecary's, two +blocks away or more. There she had a family of kittens, but apparently +came up to reconnoitre, for on my sister's return, she appeared with one +kitten and laid it down at Kate's feet; ran off, and in time came with +another which she left also, and so on until she had brought up the +whole household. Lucifer was one of them. + +"He was as black as an imp and as mischievous as one. His bounds have +always been tremendous: from the floor to the high mantel, or to the top +of a tall buffet close under the ceiling. And these bounds of his, +together with a way he has of gazing into space with his soulful and +enormous yellow eyes, have led to a thousand tales as to his nightly +journeyings among the stars; hurting his foot slumping through the +nebula in Andromeda; getting his supper at a place in the milky way, +hunting all night with Orion, and having awful fights with Sirius. He +got his throat cut by alighting on the North Pole one night, coming down +from the stars. The reason he slumps through the nebula is on account of +his big feet; he has six toes (like the foot in George Augustus Sala's +drawing) and when he walks on the top of the piazza you would think it +was a burglar. + +"Lucifer's Mephistophelian aspect is increased not only by those feet, +but by an arrow-pointed tail. He sucks his tail,--alas, and alas! In +vain have we peppered it, and pepper-sauced it, and dipped it in +Worcestershire sauce and in aloes, and done it up in curl papers, and +glued on it the fingers of old gloves. At last we gave it up in despair, +and I took him and put his tail in his mouth and told him to take his +pleasure,--and that is the reason, I suppose, that he attaches himself +particularly to me. He is very near-sighted with those magnificent orbs, +for he will jump into any one's lap, who wears a black gown, but jump +down instantly, and when he finds my lap curl down for a brief season. +But he is not much of a lap-loving cat. He puts up his nose and smells +my face all over in what he means for a caress, and is off. He is not a +large eater, although he has been known to help himself to a whole steak +at the table, being alone in the dining room; and when poultry are in +the larder he is insistent till satisfied. But he wants his breakfast +early. If the second girl, whose charge he is, does not rise in season, +he mounts two flights of stairs and seats himself on her chest until she +does rise. Then if she does not wait on him at once, he goes into the +drawing-room, and springs to the top of the upright piano, and +deliberately knocks off the bric-a-brac, particularly loving to +encounter and floor a brass dragon candlestick. Then he springs to the +mantel-shelf if he has not been seized and appeased, and repeats +operations, and has even carried his work of destruction around the room +to the top of a low bookcase and has proved himself altogether the wrong +sort of person in a china-shop. + +"However, it is conceded in the family that Phosphor is not a cat +merely: he is a person, and Lucifer is a spirit. Lucifer seldom purrs--I +wonder if that is a characteristic of black cats?" [No; my black cats +fairly roar.] "A little thread of sound, and only now and then, when +very happy and loving, a rich, full strain. But Phosphor purrs like a +windmill, like an electric car, like a tea-kettle, like a whole boiled +dinner. When Phosphor came, Lucifer, six weeks her senior (Phosphor's +excellencies always incline one to say 'she' of him), thought the little +live yellow ball was made only for him to play with, and he cuffed and +tossed him around for all he was worth, licked him all over twenty times +a day, and slept with his arms about him. During those early years +Phosphor never washed himself, Lucifer took such care of him, and they +were a lovely sight in each other's arms asleep. But of late years a +coolness has intervened, and now they never speak as they pass by. They +sometimes go fishing together, Lucifer walking off majestically alone, +always dark, mysterious, reticent, intent on his own affairs, making you +feel that he has a sort of lofty contempt for yours. Sometimes, the mice +depositing a dead fish in the crannies of the rocks, Lucifer appears +with it in the twilight, gleaming silver-white in his jaws, and the +great eyes gleaming like fire-balls above it. Phosphor is, however, a +mighty hunter: mice, rats by the score, chipmunks,--all is game that +comes to his net. He has cleaned out whole colonies of catbirds (for +their insolence), and eaten every golden robin on the island. + +"It used to be very pretty to see them, when they were little, as El +Mahdi, the peacock, spread his great tail, dart and spring upon it, and +go whirling round with it as El Mahdi, fairly frantic with the little +demons that had hold of him, went skipping and springing round and +round. But although so fierce a fighter, so inhospitable to every other +cat, Phosphor is the most affectionate little soul. He is still very +playful, though so large, and last summer to see him bounding on the +grass, playing with his tail, turning somersaults all by himself, was +quite worth while. When we first happened to go away in his early years +he wouldn't speak to us when we came back, he felt so neglected. I went +away for five months once, before Lucifer was more than a year old. He +got into no one's lap while I was gone, but the moment I sat down on my +return, he jumped into mine, saluted me, and curled himself down for a +nap, showing the plainest recognition. Now when one comes back, Phosphor +is wild with joy--always in a well-bred way. He will get into your arms +and on your shoulder and rub his face around, and before you know it his +little mouth is in the middle of your mouth as much like a kiss as +anything can be. Perhaps it isn't so well bred, but his motions are so +quick and perfect it seems so. When you let him in he curls into heaps +of joy, and fairly stands on his head sometimes. He is the most +responsive creature, always ready for a caress, and his wild, great +amber eyes beam love, if ever love had manifestation. His beauty is +really extraordinary; his tail a real wonder. Lucifer, I grieve to say, +looks very moth-eaten. Phosphor wore a bell for a short time once--a +little Inch-Cape Rock bell--but he left it to toll all winter in a tall +tree near the drawing-room window. + +"A charm of cats is that they seem to live in a world of their own, just +as much as if it were a real dimension of space; and speaking of a +fourth dimension, I am living in the expectation that the new +discoveries in the matter of radiant energy will presently be revealing +to all our senses the fact that there is no death. + +"We had some barn kittens once that lived in the hen-house, ate with the +hens, and quarrelled with them for any tidbit. They curled up in the egg +boxes and didn't move when the hens came to lay, and evidently had no +idea that they were not hens. + +"Oh, there is no end to the cat situation. It began with the old fellow +who put his hand under the cat to lift her up, and she arched her back +higher and higher until he found it was the serpent Asgard, and it won't +end with you and me. I don't know but she _is_ the serpent Asgard. +I don't know if you have hypnotized or magnetized me, but I am writing +as if I had known you intimately all my life, and feel as though I had. +It is the freemasonry of cats. I always said they were possessed of +spirits, and they use white magic to bring their friends together." + +Mrs. Spofford's "barn kittens" bring to mind an incident related by Mrs. +Wood, the beautiful wife of Professor C.G. Wood, of the Harvard Medical +School. At their summer place on Buzzard's Bay she has fifteen cats, +mostly Angoras, Persians, and coons, with several dogs. These cats +follow her all about the place in a regular troop, and a very handsome +troop they are, with their waving, plumy tails tipped gracefully over at +the ends as if saluting their superior officer. Among the dogs is a +spaniel named Gyp that is particularly friendly with the cats. There are +plenty of hens on the farm, and one spring a couple of bantams were +added to the stock. The cats immediately took a great fancy to these +diminutive bipeds, and watched them with the greatest interest. Finally +the little hen had a flock of chickens. As the weather was still cold, +the farmer put them upstairs in one of the barns, and every day Gyp +would take seven or eight of those cats up there to see the fluffy +little things. Dog and cats would seat themselves around the bantam and +her brood and watch them by the hour, never offering to touch the +chickens except when the little things were tired and went for a nap +under their mother's wings; and then some cat--first one and then +another--would softly poke its paw under the hen and stir up the family, +making them all run out in consternation, and keeping things lively once +more. The cats didn't dream of catching the chickens, only wanting, +evidently, that they should emulate Joey and keep moving on. + +A writer in the _London Spectator_ tells of a favorite bantam hen +with which the house cat has long been accustomed to play. This bantam +has increased and multiplied, and keeps her family in a "coop" on the +ground,--into which rats easily enter. At bedtime, however, pussy takes +up her residence there, and bantam, the brood of chickens, and pussy +sleep in happy harmony nightly. If any rats arrive, their experience +must be sad and sharp. Another writer in the same number tells of a cat +in Huddersfield, England, belonging to Canon Beardsley, who helps +himself to a reel of cotton from the work-basket, takes it on the floor, +and plays with it as long as he likes, and then jumps up and puts the +reel back in its place again; just as our Bobinette used to get his +tape-measure, although the latter never was known to put it away. + +Miss Sarah Orne Jewett is a cat-lover, too, and the dear old +countrywomen "down in Maine," with whom one gets acquainted through her +books, usually keep a cat also. Says she:-- + +"I look back over so long a line of family cats, from a certain poor +Spotty who died an awful death in a fit on the flagstones under the +library window when I was less than five years old, to a lawless, +fluffy, yellow and white coon cat now in my possession, that I find it +hard to single out the most interesting pussy of all. I shall have to +speak of two cats at least, one being the enemy and the other the friend +of my dog Joe. Joe and I grew up together and were fond companions, +until he died of far too early old age and left me to take my country +walks alone. + +"Polly, the enemy, was the best mouser of all: quite the best business +cat we ever had, with an astonishing intellect and a shrewd way of +gaining her ends. She caught birds and mice as if she foraged for our +whole family: she had an air of responsibility and a certain impatience +of interruption and interference such as I have never seen in any other +cat, and a scornful way of sitting before a person with fierce eyes and +a quick, ominous twitching of her tail. She seemed to be measuring one's +incompetence as a mouse-catcher in these moments, or to be saying to +herself, 'What a clumsy, stupid person; how little she knows, and how I +should like to scratch her and hear her squeak.' I sometimes felt as if +I were a larger sort of helpless mouse in these moments, but sometimes +Polly would be more friendly, and even jump into our laps, when it was a +pleasure to pat her hard little head with its exquisitely soft, dark +tortoise-shell fur. No matter if she almost always turned and caught the +caressing hand with teeth and claws, when she was tired of its touch, +you would always be ready to pat her next time; there was such a +fascination about her that any attention on her part gave a thrill of +pride and pleasure. Every guest and stranger admired her and tried to +win her favor: while we of the household hid our wounds and delighted in +her cleverness and beauty. + +"Polly was but a small cat to have a mind. She looked quite round and +kittenish as she sat before the fire in a rare moment of leisure, with +her black paws tucked under her white breast and her sleek back looking +as if it caught flickers of firelight in some yellow streaks among the +shiny black fur. But when she walked abroad she stretched out long and +thin like a little tiger, and held her head high to look over the grass +as if she were threading the jungle. She lashed her tail to and fro, and +one turned out of her way instantly. You opened a door for her if she +crossed the room and gave you a look. She made you know what she meant +as if she had the gift of speech: at most inconvenient moments you would +go out through the house to find her a bit of fish or to open the cellar +door. You recognized her right to appear at night on your bed with one +of her long-suffering kittens, which she had brought in the rain, out of +a cellar window and up a lofty ladder, over the wet, steep roofs and +down through a scuttle into the garret, and still down into warm +shelter. Here she would leave it and with one or two loud, admonishing +purrs would scurry away upon some errand that must have been like one of +the border frays of old. + +"She used to treat Joe, the dog, with sad cruelty, giving him a sharp +blow on his honest nose that made him meekly stand back and see her add +his supper to her own. A child visitor once rightly complained that +Polly had pins in her toes, and nobody knew this better than poor Joe. +At last, in despair, he sought revenge. I was writing at my desk one +day, when he suddenly appeared, grinning in a funny way he had, and +wagging his tail, until he enticed me out to the kitchen. There I found +Polly, who had an air of calling everything in the house her own. She +was on the cook's table, gobbling away at some chickens which were being +made ready for the oven and had been left unguarded. I caught her and +cuffed her, and she fled through the garden door, for once tamed and +vanquished, though usually she was so quick that nobody could administer +justice upon these depredations of a well-fed cat. Then I turned and saw +poor old Joe dancing about the kitchen in perfect delight. He had been +afraid to touch Polly himself, but he knew the difference between right +and wrong, and had called me to see what a wicked cat she was, and to +give him the joy of looking on at the flogging. + +"It was the same dog who used sometimes to be found under a table where +his master had sent him for punishment in his young days of lawless +puppy-hood for chasing the neighbor's chickens. These faults had long +been overcome, but sometimes, in later years, Joe's conscience would +trouble him, we never knew why, and he would go under the table of his +own accord, and look repentant and crestfallen until some forgiving and +sympathetic friend would think he had suffered enough and bid him come +out to be patted and consoled. + +"After such a house-mate as Polly, Joe had great amends in our next cat, +yellow Danny, the most amiable and friendly pussy that ever walked on +four paws. He took Danny to his heart at once: they used to lie in the +sun together with Danny's head on the dog's big paws, and I sometimes +used to meet them walking as coy as lovers, side by side, up one of the +garden walks. When I could not help laughing at their sentimental and +conscious air, they would turn aside into the bushes for shelter. They +respected each other's suppers, and ate together on the kitchen hearth, +and took great comfort in close companionship. Danny always answered if +you spoke to him, but he made no sound while always opening his mouth +wide to mew whenever he had anything to say, and looking up into your +face with all his heart expressed. These affectations of speech were +most amusing, especially in so large a person as yellow Danny. He was +much beloved by me and by all his family, especially poor Joe, who must +sometimes have had the worst of dreams about old Polly, and her sharp, +unsparing claws." + +Miss Mary E. Wilkins is also a great admirer of cats. "I adore cats," +she says. "I don't love them as well as dogs, because my own nature is +more after the lines of a dog's; but I adore them. No matter how tired +or wretched I am, a pussy-cat sitting in a doorway can divert my mind. +Cats love one so much: more than they will allow; but they have so much +wisdom they keep it to themselves." + +Miss Wilkins's "Augustus" was moved with her from Brattleboro, Vt., +after her father's death and when she went to Randolph, Mass., to live. +He had been the pet of the family for a long time, but he came to an +untimely end. + +"I hope," says Miss Wilkins, "people's unintentional cruelty will not be +remembered against them." Since living in Randolph she has had two +lovely yellow and white cats, "Punch and Judy." The latter was shot by a +neighbor, but Punch, the right-hand cat with the angelic expression, +still survives. + +"I am quite sure," says his mistress, "he loves me better than anybody +else, although he is so very close about it. Punch Wilkins has one +accomplishment. He can open a door with an old-fashioned latch: but he +cannot shut it." + +Louise Imogen Guiney is famous for her love and good comradeship with +dogs, especially her setters and St. Bernards, but she is too thoroughly +a poet not to be captivated by the grace and beauty of a cat. + +"I love the unsubmissive race," she says, "and have had much edification +out of the charming friendships between our St. Bernards and our cats. +Annie Clarke [the actress] once gave me two exquisite Angoras, little +persons of character equal to their looks; but they died young and we +have not since had the heart to replace them. I once had another coon, a +small, spry, gray fellow named Scot, the tamest and most endearing of +pets, always on your shoulder and a' that, who suddenly, on no +provocation whatever, turned wild, lived for a year or more in the woods +next our garden, hunting and fishing, although ceaselessly chased, and +called, and implored to revisit his afflicted family. He associated +sometimes with the neighbor's cat, but never, never more with humanity, +until finally we found his pathetic little frozen body one Christmas +near the barn. Do you remember Arnold's Scholar Gypsy? Our Scot was his +feline equivalent.... Have you counted in Prosper Merimée among the +confirmed lovers of cats? I remember a delightful little paragraph out +of one of his letters about _un vieux chat noir, parfaitement laid, +mais plein d'ésprit et de discrétion. Seulement il n'a eu que des gens +vulgaires et manque d'usage._" + +Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney, who has written so many helpful stories for girls, +is another lover of cats. Cats do not lie curled up on cushions +everywhere in her books, as they do in Mrs. Spofford's. But in "Zerub +Throop's Experiment" there is an amusing cat story, which, she declares, +got so much mixed up with a ghost story that nobody ever knew which was +which. And the incident is true in every particular, except the finding +of a will or codicil, or something at the end, which is attached for +purposes of fiction. + +A great deal has been written about the New York _Sun's_ famous +cats. At my request, Mr. Dana furnished the following description of the +interesting _Sun_ family. I can only vouch for its veracity by +quoting the famous phrase, "If you see it in the _Sun_, it is so." + +"_Sun_ office cat (_Felis Domestica; var. Journalistica_). +This is a variation of the common domestic cat, of which but one family +is known to science. The habitat of the species is in Newspaper Row; its +lair is in the _Sun_ building, its habits are nocturnal, and it +feeds on discarded copy and anything else of a pseudo-literary nature +upon which it can pounce. In dull times it can subsist upon a meagre +diet of telegraphic brevities, police court paragraphs, and city +jottings; but when the universe is agog with news, it will exhibit the +insatiable appetite which is its chief distinguishing mark of difference +from the common _felis domestica_. A single member of this family +has been known, on a 'rush' night, to devour three and a half columns of +presidential possibilities, seven columns of general politics, pretty +much all but the head of a large and able-bodied railroad accident, and +a full page of miscellaneous news, and then claw the nether garments of +the managing editor, and call attention to an appetite still in good +working order. + +"The progenitrix of the family arrived in the _Sun_ office many +years ago, and installed herself in a comfortable corner, and within a +few short months she had noticeably raised the literary tone of the +paper, as well as a large and vociferous family of kittens. These +kittens were weaned on reports from country correspondents, and the +sight of the six children and the mother cat sitting in a semicircle was +one which attracted visitors from all parts of the nation. Just before +her death--immediately before, in fact--the mother cat developed a +literary taste of her own and drank the contents of an ink-bottle. She +was buried with literary honors, and one of her progeny was advanced to +the duties and honors of office cat. From this time the line came down, +each cat taking the 'laurel greener from the brows of him that uttered +nothing base,' upon the death of his predecessor. There is but one blot +upon the escutcheon of the family, put there by a recent incumbent who +developed a mania at once cannibalistic and infanticidal, and set about +making a free lunch of her offspring, in direct violation of the Raines +law and the maternal instinct. She died of an overdose of chloroform, +and her place was taken by one of the rescued kittens. + +"It is the son of this kitten who is the present proud incumbent of the +office. Grown to cat-hood, he is a creditable specimen of his family, +with beryl eyes, beautiful striped fur, showing fine mottlings of +mucilage and ink, a graceful and aspiring tail, an appetite for copy +unsurpassed in the annals of his race, and a power and perseverance in +vocality, chiefly exercised in the small hours of the morning, that, +together with the appetite referred to, have earned for him the name of +the Mutilator. The picture herewith given was taken when the animal was +a year and a half old. Up to the age of one year the Mutilator made its +lair in the inside office with the Snake Editor, until a tragic ending +came to their friendship. During a fortnight's absence of the office cat +upon important business, the Snake Editor cultivated the friendship of +three cockroaches, whom he debauched by teaching them to drink beer +spilled upon his desk for that purpose. On the night of the cat's +return, the three bugs had become disgracefully intoxicated, and were +reeling around the desk beating time with their legs to a rollicking +catch sung by the Snake Editor. Before the muddled insects could crawl +into a crack, the Mutilator was upon them, and had bolted every one. +Then with a look of reproach at the Snake Editor, he drew three +perpendicular red lines across that gentleman's features with his claws +and departed in high scorn, nor could he ever thereafter be lured into +the inner office where the serpent-sharp was laying for him with a space +measure. Since that time he has lived in the room occupied by the +reporters and news editors. + +"Many hundreds of stories, some of them slanderous have been told about +the various _Sun_ office cats, but we have admitted here none of +these false tales. The short sketch given here is beyond suspicion in +all its details, as can be vouched for by many men of high position who +ought to know better." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + + +The nearest approach to the real French Salon in America is said to be +found in Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton's Boston drawing-room. In former +days, at her weekly Fridays, Sir Richard Coeur de Lion was always +present, sitting on the square piano amidst a lot of other celebrities. +The autographed photographs of Paderewski, John Drew, and distinguished +litterateurs, however, used to lose nothing from the proximity of Mrs. +Moulton's favorite maltese friend, who was on the most intimate terms +with her for twelve years, and hobnobbed familiarly with most of the +lions of one sort or another who have visited Boston and who invariably +find their way into this room. If there were flowers on the piano, +Richard's nose hovered near them in a perfect abandon of delight. +Indeed, his fondness for flowers was a source of constant contention +between him and his mistress, who feared lest he knock the souvenirs of +foreign countries to the floor in his eagerness to climb wherever +flowers were put. He was as dainty about his eating as in his taste for +the beautiful, scorning beef and mutton as fit only for coarser mortals, +and choosing, like any _gourmet_, to eat only the breast of +chicken, or certain portions of fish or lobster. He was not proof +against the flavor of liver, at any time; but recognized in it his one +weakness,--as the delicate lady may who takes snuff or chews gum on the +sly. When Mrs. Moulton first had him, she had also a little dog, and the +two, as usual when a kitten is brought up with a dog, became the +greatest of friends. + +That Richard was a close observer was proved by the way he used to wag +his tail, in the same fashion and apparently for the same reasons as the +dog. This went on for several years, but when the dog died, the fashion +of wagging tails went out, so far as Richard Coeur de Lion was +concerned. + +He had a fashion of getting up on mantels, the tops of bookcases, or on +shelves; and his mistress, fearing demolition of her household Lares and +Penates, insisted on his getting down, whereupon Richard would look +reproachfully at her, apparently resenting this treatment for days +afterward, refusing to come near her and edging off if she tried to make +up with him. + +When Richard was getting old, a black cat came to Mrs. Moulton, who kept +him "for luck," and named him the Black Prince. The older cat was always +jealous of the newcomer, and treated him with lofty scorn. When he +caught Mrs. Moulton petting the Black Prince, who is a very affectionate +fellow Richard fiercely resented it and sometimes refused to have +anything to do with her for days afterward, but finally came around and +made up in shamefaced fashion. + +Mrs. Moulton goes to London usually in the summer, leaving the cats in +the care of a faithful maid whom she has had for years. After she +sailed, Richard used to come to her door for several mornings, and not +being let in as usual, understood that his beloved mistress had left him +again, whereupon he kept up a prolonged wailing for some time. He was +correspondingly glad to see her on her return in October. + +Mrs. Moulton tells the following remarkable cat story:-- + +"My mother had a cat that lived to be twenty-five years old. He was +faithful and fond, and a great pet in the family, of course. About two +years before his death, a new kitten was added to the family. This +kitten, named Jim, immediately conceived the greatest affection for old +Jack, and as the old fellow's senses of sight and smell failed so that +he could not go hunting himself, Jim used to do it for both. Every day +he brought Jack mice and squirrels and other game as long as he lived. +Then, too, he used to wash Jack, lapping him all over as a mother cat +does her kitten. He did this, too, as long as he lived. The feebler old +Jack grew the more Jim did for him, and when Jack finally died of old +age, Jim was inconsolable." + +Twenty-five years might certainly be termed a ripe old age for a cat, +their average life extending only to ten or twelve years. But I have +heard of one who seems to have attained even greater age. The mother of +Jane Andrews, the writer on educational and juvenile subjects, had one +who lived with them twenty-four years. He had peculiar markings and +certain ways of his own about the house quite different from other cats. +He disappeared one day when he was twenty-four, and was mourned as dead. +But one day, some six or seven years later, an old cat came to their +door and asked to be let in. He had the same markings, and on being let +in, went directly to his favorite sleeping-places and lay down. He +seemed perfectly familiar with the whole place, and went on with his +life from that time, just as though he had never been away, showing all +his old peculiarities. When he finally died, he must have been +thirty-three years old. + +Although in other days a great many noted men have been devoted to cats, +I do not find that our men of letters to-day know so much about cats. +Mr. William Dean Howells says: "I never had a cat, pet or otherwise. I +like them, but know nothing of them." Judge Robert Grant says, "My +feelings toward cats are kindly and considerate, but not ardent." + +Thomas Bailey Aldrich says, "The only cat I ever had any experience with +was the one I translated from the French of Émile de La Bédolliérre many +years ago for the entertainment of my children." [Footnote: "Mother +Michel's Cat."] Brander Matthews loves them not. George W. Cable answers, +when asked if he loves the "harmless, necessary cat," by the Yankee method, +and says, "If you had three or four acres of beautiful woods in which were +little red squirrels and chipmunks and fifty or more kinds of nesting +birds, and every abutting neighbor kept a cat, and none of them kept their +cat out of those woods--_would you like cats?_" which is, indeed, +something of a poser. + +Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, however, confesses to a great fondness for +cats, although he has had no remarkable cats of his own. He tells a +story told him by an old sailor at Pigeon Cove, Mass., of a cat which +he, the sailor, tried in vain to get rid of. After trying several +methods he finally put the cat in a bag, walked a mile to Lane's Cove, +tied the cat to a big stone with a firm sailor's knot, took it out in a +dory some distance from the shore, and dropped the cat overboard. Then +he went back home to find the cat purring on the doorstep. + +Those who are familiar with Charles Dudley Warner's "My Summer in a +Garden" will not need to be reminded of Calvin and his interesting +traits. Mr. Warner says: "I never had but one cat, and he was rather a +friend and companion than a cat. When he departed this life I did not +care to do as many men do when their partners die, take a 'second.'" The +sketch of him in that delightful book is vouched for as correct. + +Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman, too, is a genuine admirer of cats and +evidently knows how to appreciate them at their true value. At his home +near New York, he and Mrs. Stedman have one who rejoices in the name +"Babylon," having originated in Babylon, Long Island. He is a fine large +maltese, and attracted a great deal of attention at the New York Cat +Show in 1895. "We look upon him as an important member of our family," +says Mrs. Stedman, "and think he knows as much as any of us. He despises +our two other cats, but he is very fond of human beings and makes +friends readily with strangers. He is always present at the family +dinner table at meal-time and expects to have his share handed to him +carefully. He has a favorite corner in the study and has superintended a +great deal of literary work." Mrs. Stedman's long-haired, blue Kelpie +took a prize in the show of '95. + +Gail Hamilton was naturally a lover of cats, although in her crowded +life there was not much time to devote to them. In the last year of her +noble life she wrote to a friend as follows: "My two hands were eager to +lighten the burden-bearing of a burdened world--but the brush fell from +my hand. Now I can only sit in a nook of November sunshine, playing with +two little black and white kittens. Well, I never before had time to +play with kittens as much as I wished, and when I come outdoors and see +them bounding toward me in long, light leaps, I am glad that they leap +toward me and not away from me, little soft, fierce sparks of infinite +energy holding a mystery of their own as inscrutable as life. And I +remember that with all our high art, the common daily sun searches a man +for one revealing moment, and makes a truer portrait than the most +laborious painter. The divine face of our Saviour, reflected in the pure +and noble traits of humanity, will not fail from the earth because my +hand has failed in cunning." + +One would expect a poet of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's temperament to be +passionately fond of cats, just as she is. One would expect, too, that +only the most beautiful and luxurious of Persians and Angoras would +satisfy her demand for a pet. This is also justifiable, as she has +several magnificent cats, about whom she has published a number of +interesting stories. Her Madame Ref is quite a noted cat, but Mrs. +Wilcox's favorite and the handsomest of all is named Banjo, a gorgeous +chinchilla and white Angora, with a silken coat that almost touches the +floor and a ruff, or "lord mayor's chain," that is a finger wide. His +father was Ajax, his mother was Madame Ref, and Mrs. Wilcox raised him. +She has taught him many cunning tricks. He will sit up like a bear, and +when his mistress says, "Hug me, Banjo," he puts both white paws around +her neck and hugs her tight. Then she says, "Turn the other cheek," and +he turns his furry chops for her to kiss. He also plays "dead," and +rolls over at command. He, too, is fond of literary work, and +superintends his mistress's writing from a drawer of her desk. Goody +Two-eyes is another of Mrs. Wilcox's pets, and has one blue and one +topaz eye. + +Who has not read Agnes Repplier's fascinating essays on "Agrippina" and +"A Kitten"? I cannot quite believe she gives cats credit for the +capacity for affection which they really possess, but her description of +"Agrippina" is charming:-- + +"Agrippina's beautifully ringed tail flapping across my copy distracts +my attention and imperils the neatness of my penmanship. Even when she +is disposed to be affable, turns the light of her countenance upon me, +watches with attentive curiosity every stroke I make, and softly, with +curved paw, pats my pen as it travels over the paper, even in these +halcyon moments, though my self-love is flattered by her condescension, +I am aware that I should work better and more rapidly if I denied myself +this charming companionship. But, in truth, it is impossible for a lover +of cats to banish these alert, gentle, and discriminating little +friends, who give us just enough of their regard and complaisance to +make us hunger for more. M. Fee, the naturalist, who has written so +admirably about animals, and who understands, as only a Frenchman can +understand, the delicate and subtle organization of a cat, frankly +admits that the keynote of its character is independence. It dwells +under our roofs, sleeps by our fire, endures our blandishments, and +apparently enjoys our society, without for one moment forfeiting its +sense of absolute freedom, without acknowledging any servile relation to +the human creature who shelters it. + +"Rude and masterful souls resent this fine self-sufficiency in a +domestic animal, and require that it shall have no will but theirs, no +pleasure that does not emanate from them. + +"Yet there are people, less magisterial, perhaps, or less exacting, who +believe that true friendship, even with an animal, may be built up on +mutual esteem and independence; that to demand gratitude is to be +unworthy of it; and that obedience is not essential to agreeable and +healthy intercourse. A man who owns a dog is, in every sense of the +word, its master: the term expresses accurately their mutual relations. +But it is ridiculous when applied to the limited possession of a cat. I +am certainly not Agrippina's mistress, and the assumption of authority +on my part would be a mere empty dignity, like those swelling titles +which afford such innocent delight to the Freemasons of our severe +republic. + +"How many times have I rested tired eyes on her graceful little body, +curled up in a ball and wrapped round with her tail like a parcel; or +stretched out luxuriously on my bed, one paw coyly covering her face, +the other curved gently inwards, as though clasping an invisible +treasure. Asleep or awake, in rest or in motion, grave or gay, Agrippina +is always beautiful; and it is better to be beautiful than to fetch and +carry from the rising to the setting of the sun. + +"But when Agrippina has breakfasted and washed, and sits in the sunlight +blinking at me with affectionate contempt, I feel soothed by her +absolute and unqualified enjoyment. I know how full my day will be of +things that I don't want particularly to do, and that are not +particularly worth doing; but for her, time and the world hold only this +brief moment of contentment. Slowly the eyes close, gently the little +body is relaxed. Oh, you who strive to relieve your overwrought nerves +and cultivate power through repose, watch the exquisite languor of a +drowsy cat, and despair of imitating such perfect and restful grace. +There is a gradual yielding of every muscle to the soft persuasiveness +of slumber: the flexible frame is curved into tender lines, the head +nestles lower, the paws are tucked out of sight: no convulsive throb or +start betrays a rebellious alertness: only a faint quiver of unconscious +satisfaction, a faint heaving of the tawny sides, a faint gleam of the +half-shut yellow eyes, and Agrippina is asleep. I look at her for one +wistful moment and then turn resolutely to my work. It were ignoble to +wish myself in her place: and yet how charming to be able to settle down +to a nap, _sans peur et sans reproche_, at ten o'clock in the +morning." + +And again: "When I am told that Agrippina is disobedient, ungrateful, +cold-hearted, perverse, stupid, treacherous, and cruel, I no longer +strive to check the torrent of abuse. I know that Buffon said all this, +and much more, about cats, and that people have gone on repeating it +ever since, principally because these spirited little beasts have +remained just what it pleased Providence to make them, have preserved +their primitive freedom through centuries of effete and demoralizing +civilization. Why, I wonder, should a great many good men and women +cherish an unreasonable grudge against one animal because it does not +chance to possess the precise qualities of another? 'My dog fetches my +slippers for me every night,' said a friend, triumphantly, not long ago. +'He puts them first to warm by the fire, and then brings them over to my +chair, wagging his tail, and as proud as Punch. Would your cat do as +much for you, I'd like to know?' Assuredly not. If I waited for +Agrippina to fetch me shoes or slippers, I should have no other resource +save to join as speedily as possible one of the barefooted religious +orders of Italy. But after all, fetching slippers is not the whole duty +of domestic pets. + +"As for curiosity, that vice which the Abbé Galiani held to be unknown +to animals, but which the more astute Voltaire detected in every little +dog that he saw peering out of the window of its master's coach, it is +the ruling passion of the feline breast. A closet door left ajar, a box +with half-closed lid, an open bureau drawer,--these are the objects that +fill a cat with the liveliest interest and delight. Agrippina watches +breathlessly the unfastening of a parcel, and tries to hasten matters by +clutching actively at the string. When its contents are shown to her, +she examines them gravely, and then, with a sigh of relief, settles down +to repose. The slightest noise disturbs and irritates her until she +discovers its cause. If she hears a footstep in the hall, she runs out +to see whose it is, and, like certain troublesome little people I have +known, she dearly loves to go to the front door every time the bell is +rung. From my window she surveys the street with tranquil scrutiny, and +if the boys are playing below, she follows their games with a steady, +scornful stare, very different from the wistful eagerness of a friendly +dog, quivering to join in the sport. Sometimes the boys catch sight of +her, and shout up rudely at her window; and I can never sufficiently +admire Agrippina's conduct upon these trying occasions, the well-bred +composure with which she affects neither to see nor to hear them, nor to +be aware that there are such objectionable creatures as children in the +world. Sometimes, too, the terrier that lives next door comes out to sun +himself in the street, and, beholding my cat sitting well out of reach, +he dances madly up and down the pavement, barking with all his might, +and rearing himself on his short legs, in a futile attempt to dislodge +her. Then the spirit of evil enters Agrippina's little heart. The window +is open and she creeps to the extreme edge of the stone sill, stretches +herself at full length, peers down smilingly at the frenzied dog, +dangles one paw enticingly in the air, and exerts herself with quiet +malice to drive him to desperation. Her sense of humor is awakened by +his frantic efforts and by her own absolute security; and not until he +is spent with exertion, and lies panting and exhausted on the bricks, +does she arch her graceful back, stretch her limbs lazily in the sun, +and with one light bound spring from the window to my desk." + +And what more delightful word did ever Miss Repplier write than her +description of a kitten? It, she says, "is the most irresistible +comedian in the world. Its wide-open eyes gleam with wonder and mirth. +It darts madly at nothing at all, and then, as though suddenly checked +in the pursuit, prances sideways on its hind legs with ridiculous +agility and zeal. It makes a vast pretence of climbing the rounds of a +chair, and swings by the curtains like an acrobat. It scrambles up a +table leg, and is seized with comic horror at finding itself full two +feet from the floor. If you hasten to its rescue, it clutches you +nervously, its little heart thumping against its furry sides, while its +soft paws expand and contract with agitation and relief:-- + + "'And all their harmless claws disclose, + Like prickles of an early rose.' + + +"Yet the instant it is back on the carpet it feigns to be suspicious of +your interference, peers at you out of 'the tail o' its e'e,' and +scampers for protection under the sofa, from which asylum it presently +emerges with cautious, trailing steps as though encompassed by fearful +dangers and alarms." + +Nobody can sympathize with her in the following description better than +I, who for years was compelled by the insistence of my Pretty Lady to +aid in the bringing up of infants:-- + +"I own that when Agrippina brought her first-born son--aged two +days--and established him in my bedroom closet, the plan struck me at +the start as inconvenient. I had prepared another nursery for the little +Claudius Nero, and I endeavored for a while to convince his mother that +my arrangements were best. But Agrippina was inflexible. The closet +suited her in every respect; and, with charming and irresistible +flattery, she gave me to understand, in the mute language I knew so +well, that she wished her baby boy to be under my immediate protection. + +"'I bring him to you because I trust you,' she said as plainly as looks +can speak. 'Downstairs they handle him all the time, and it is not good +for kittens to be handled. Here he is safe from harm, and here he shall +remain,' After a few weak remonstrances, the futility of which I too +clearly understood, her persistence carried the day. I removed my +clothing from the closet, spread a shawl upon the floor, had the door +taken from its hinges, and resigned myself, for the first time in my +life, to the daily and hourly companionship of an infant. + +"I was amply rewarded. People who require the household cat to rear her +offspring in some remote attic or dark corner of the cellar have no idea +of all the diversion and pleasure that they lose. It is delightful to +watch the little, blind, sprawling, feeble, helpless things develop +swiftly into the grace and agility of kittenhood. It is delightful to +see the mingled pride and anxiety of the mother, whose parental love +increases with every hour of care, and who exhibits her young family as +if they were infant Gracchi, the hope of all their race. During Nero's +extreme youth, there were times when Agrippina wearied both of his +companionship and of her own maternal duties. Once or twice she +abandoned him at night for the greater luxury of my bed, where she slept +tranquilly by my side, unmindful of the little wailing cries with which +Nero lamented her desertion. Once or twice the heat of early summer +tempted her to spend the evening on the porch roof which lay beneath my +windows, and I have passed some anxious hours awaiting her return, and +wondering what would happen if she never came back, and I were left to +bring up the baby by hand. + +"But as the days sped on, and Nero grew rapidly in beauty and +intelligence, Agrippina's affection for him knew no bounds. She could +hardly bear to leave him even for a little while, and always came +hurrying back to him with a loud, frightened mew, as if fearing he might +have been stolen in her absence. At night she purred over him for hours, +or made little gurgling noises expressive of ineffable content. She +resented the careless curiosity of strangers, and was a trifle +supercilious when the cook stole softly in to give vent to her fervent +admiration. But from first to last she shared with me her pride and +pleasure; and the joy in her beautiful eyes, as she raised them to mine, +was frankly confiding and sympathetic. When the infant Claudius rolled +for the first time over the ledge of the closet and lay sprawling on the +bedroom floor, it would have been hard to say which of us was the more +elated at his prowess." + +What became of these most interesting cats, is only hinted at; Miss +Repplier's sincere grief at their loss is evident in the following:-- + +"Every night they retired at the same time and slept upon the same +cushion, curled up inextricably into one soft, furry ball. Many times I +have knelt by their chair to bid them both good night; and always when I +did so, Agrippina would lift her charming head, purr drowsily for a few +seconds, and then nestle closer still to her first-born, with sighs of +supreme satisfaction. The zenith of her life had been reached. Her cup +of contentment was full. + +"It is a rude world, even for little cats, and evil chances lie in wait +for the petted creatures we strive to shield from harm. Remembering the +pangs of separation, the possibilities of unkindness or neglect, the +troubles that hide in ambush on every unturned page, I am sometimes glad +that the same cruel and selfish blow struck both mother and son, and +that they lie together, safe from hurt or hazard, sleeping tranquilly +and always, under the shadow of the friendly pines." + +Probably no modern cat has been more written about than Miss Mary L. +Booth's Muff. There was a "Tippet," but he was early lost. Miss Booth, +as the editor of _Harper's Bazar_, was the centre of a large circle +of literary and musical people. Her Saturday evenings were to New York +what Mrs. Moulton's Fridays are to Boston, the nearest approach to the +French salon possible in America. At these Saturday evenings Muff always +figured prominently, being dressed in a real lace collar (brought him +from Yucatan by Madame la Plongeon, and elaborate and expensive enough +for the most fastidious lady), and apparently enjoying the company of +noted intellectual people as well as the best of them. And who knows, if +he had spoken, what light he might have shed on what seemed to mere +mortals as mysterious, abstruse, and occult problems? Perhaps, after +all, he liked that "salon" because in reality he found so much to amuse +him in the conversation; and perhaps he was, under that guise of +friendly interest in noted scientists, reformers, poets, musicians, and +litterateurs, only whispering to himself, "O Lord, what fools these +mortals be!" + +"For when I play with my cat," says Montaigne, "how do I know whether +she does not make a jest of me?" + +But Muff was a real nobleman among cats, and extraordinarily handsome. +He was a great soft gray maltese with white paws and breast--mild, +amiable, and uncommonly intelligent. He felt it his duty to help +entertain Miss Booth's guests, always; and he more than once, at the +beginning of a reception, came into the drawing-room with a mouse in his +mouth as his offering to the occasion. Naturally enough "he caused the +stampede," as Mrs. Spofford puts it, "that Mr. Gilbert forgot to put +into 'Princess Ida' when her Amazons wild demonstrate their courage." + +As one of Miss Booth's intimate friends, Mrs. Spofford was much at her +house and became early a devoted admirer of Muff's. + +"His latter days," she says, "were rendered miserable by a little silky, +gray creature, an Angora named Vashti, who was a spark of the fire of +the lower regions wrapped round in long silky fur, and who never let him +alone one moment: who was full of tail-lashings and racings and leapings +and fury, and of the most demonstrative love for her mistress. Once I +made them collars with breastplates of tiny dangling bells, nine or ten; +it excited them nearly to madness, and they flew up and down stairs like +unchained lightning till the trinkets were taken off." + +In a house full of birds Muff never touched one, although he was an +excellent mouser (who says cats have no conscience?). He was, although +so socially inclined toward his mistress's guests, a timid person, and +the wild back-yard cats filled him with terror. + +"But as one must see something of the world," continues Mrs. Spofford, +"he used to jump from lintel to lintel of the windows of the block, if +by chance his own were left open, and return when he pleased." + +Muff died soon after the death of Miss Booth. Vashti, who was very much +admired by all her mistress's literary friends, was given to Miss Juliet +Corson. + +Miss Edna Dean Proctor, the poet, is another admirer of fine cats. Her +favorite, however, was the friend of her childhood called Beauty. + +"Beauty was my grandmother's cat," says Miss Proctor, "and the delight +of my childhood. To this far-off day I remember her as distinctly as I +do my aunt and cousins of that household, and even my dear grandmother +herself. I know nothing of her ancestry and am not at all sure that she +was royally bred, for she came, one chill night, a little wanderer to +the door. But a shred of blue ribbon was clinging to her neck, and she +was so pretty, and silky, and winsome that we children at once called +her Beauty, and fancied she had strayed from some elegant home where she +had been the pet of the household, lapping her milk from finest china +and sleeping on a cushion of down. When we had warmed, and fed, and +caressed her, we made her bed in a flannel-lined box among our dolls, +and the next morning were up before the sun to see her, fearing her +owners would appear and carry her away. But no one arrived to claim her, +and she soon became an important member of the family, and grew +handsomer, we thought, day by day. Her coat was gray with tiger +markings, but paws and throat and nose were snowy white, and in spite of +her excursions to barns and cellars her constant care kept them +spotless--indeed, she was the very Venus of cats for daintiness and +grace of pose and movement. To my grandmother her various attitudes had +an undoubted meaning. If in a rainy day Beauty washed her face toward +the west, her observant mistress would exclaim: 'See, kitty is washing +her face to the west. It will clear.' Or, even when the sky was blue, if +Beauty turned eastward for her toilet, the comment would be: 'Kitty is +washing her face to the east. The wind must be getting "out" (from the +sea), and a storm brewing.' And when in the dusk of autumn or winter +evenings Beauty ran about the room, chasing her tail or frolicking with +her kittens instead of sleeping quietly by the fire as was her wont, my +grandmother would look up and say: 'Kitty is wild to-night. The wind +will blow hard before morning.' If I sometimes asked how she knew these +things, the reply would be, 'My mother told me when I was a little +girl.' Now her mother, my great-grandmother, was a distinguished +personage in my eyes, having been the daughter of Captain Jonathan +Prescott who commanded a company under Sir William Pepperell at the +siege of Louisburg and lost his life there; and I could not question the +wisdom of colonial times. Indeed, to this hour I have a lingering belief +that cats can foretell the weather. + +"And what a mouser she was! Before her time we often heard the rats and +mice in the walls, but with her presence not one dared to peep, and +cupboard and pantry were unmolested. Now and then she carried her forays +to hedge and orchard, and I remember one sad summer twilight that saw +her bring in a slender brown bird which my grandmother said was the +cuckoo we had delighted to hear in the still mornings among the alders +by the river. She was scolded and had no milk that night, and we never +knew her to catch a bird again. + +"O to see her with her kittens! She always hid them in the haymows, and +hunting and finding them brought us no end of excitement and pleasure. +Twice a day, at least, she would come to the house to be fed, and then +how we watched her returning steps, stealing cautiously along the path +and waiting behind stack or door the better to observe her--for pussy +knew perfectly well that we were eager to see her darlings, and enjoyed +misleading and piquing us, we imagined, by taking devious ways. How well +I recall that summer afternoon when, soft-footed and alone, I followed +her to the floor of the barn. Just as she was about to spring to the mow +she espied me, and, turning back, cunningly settled herself as if for a +quiet nap in the sunny open door. Determined not to lose sight of her, I +threw myself upon the fragrant hay; but in the stillness, the faint +sighing of the wind, the far-off ripple of the river, the hazy outline +of the hills, the wheeling swallows overhead, were blended at length in +an indistinct dream, and I slept, oblivious of all. When I woke, pussy +had disappeared, the sun was setting, the cows were coming from the +pastures, and I could only return to the house discomfited. That +particular family of kittens we never saw till a fortnight later, when +the proud mother brought them in one by one, and laid them at my +grandmother's feet. + +"What became of Beauty is as mysterious as the fate of the Dauphin. To +our grief, she disappeared one November day, and we never saw her more. +Sometimes we fancied she had been carried off by an admiring traveller: +at others we tortured ourselves with the belief that the traditional +wildcat of the north woods had devoured her. All we knew was that she +had vanished; but when memory pictures that pleasant country home and +the dear circle there, white-throated Beauty is always sleeping by the +fire." + +Miss Fidelia Bridges, the artist, is another devoted cat lover, and at +her home at Canaan, Ct., has had several interesting specimens. + +"Among my many generations of pet cats," says Miss Bridges, "one +aristocratic maltese lady stands out in prominence before all the rest. +She was a cat of great personal beauty and independence of character--a +remarkable huntress, bringing in game almost as large as herself, +holding her beautiful head aloft to keep the great wings of pigeons from +trailing on the ground. She and her mother were fast friends from birth +to death. When the young maltese had her first brood of kittens, her +mother had also a family in another barrel in the cellar. When we went +to see the just-arrived family, we found our Lady Malty's bed empty, and +there in her mother's barrel were both families and both mothers. A +delightful arrangement for the young mother, who could leave her +children in the grandmother's care and enjoy her liberty when it pleased +her to roam abroad. The young lady had an indomitable will, and when she +decided to do a thing nothing would turn her aside. She found a favorite +resting-place on a pile of blankets in a dark attic room. This being +disapproved of by the elders, the door was kept carefully closed. She +then found entrance through a stove-pipe hole, high up on the wall of an +adjoining room. A cover was hung over the hole. She sprang up and +knocked it off. Then, as a last resort, the hole was papered over like +the wall-paper of the room. She looked, made a leap, and crashed through +the paper with as merry an air as a circus-rider through his papered +hoop. She had a habit of manoeuvring to be shut out of doors at +bed-time, and then, when all was still, climbing up to my window by +means of a porch over a door beneath it, to pass the night on my bed. In +some alterations of the house, the porch was taken away. She looked with +dismay for a moment at the destruction of her ladder, then calmly ran up +the side of the house to my window, which she always after continued to +do. + +"Next in importance, perhaps, is my present intimate companion, now ten +years old and absolutely deaf, so that we communicate with signs. If I +want to attract his attention I step on the floor: if to go to his +dinner, I show him a certain blue plate: to call him in at night, I take +a lantern outside the door, and the flash of light attracts his +attention from a great distance. On one occasion he lived nine months +alone in the house while I made a trip to Europe, absolutely refusing +all the neighbors' invitations to enter any other house. A friend's +gardener brought him his daily rations. As warm weather came, he spent +his days in the fields, returning in the night for his food, so that at +my return it was two or three days before he discovered that the house +was open. The third evening he entered the open door, looked wildly +about for a moment, but when I put my hand on him suddenly recognized me +and overwhelmed me with affectionate caresses, and for two days and +nights would not allow me out of his sight, unable to eat or sleep +unless I was close at hand, and following me from room to room and chair +to chair. And people say that cats have no affection!" + +At the Quincy House in Boston may be seen in the office an oil painting +of an immense yellow cat. The first time I noticed the picture, I was +proceeding into the dining room, and while waiting for dinner, was +amused at seeing the original of the picture walk sedately in, all +alone, and going to an empty table, seat himself with majestic grace in +a chair. The waiter, seeing him, came forward and pushed up the chair as +he would do for any other guest. The cat then waited patiently without +putting his paws on the table, or violating any other law of table +etiquette, until a plate of meat came, cut up to suit his taste (I did +not hear him give his order), and then, placing his front paws on the +edge of the table, he ate from his plate. When he had finished, he +descended from his table and stalked out of the room with much dignity. +He was always regular at his meals, and although he picked out a good +seat, did not always sit at the same table. He was in appearance +something like the famous orange cats of Venice, and attracted much +attention, as might be expected, up to his death, at a ripe old age. + +Miss Frances Willard was a cat-lover, too, and had a beautiful cat which +is known to all her friends. + +"Tootsie" went to Rest Cottage, the home of Frances Willard, when only a +kitten, and there he lived, the pet of the household and its guests, +until several years ago, when Miss Willard prepared to go abroad. Then +she took Tootsie in her arms, carried him to the Drexel kennels in +Chicago, and asked their owner, Mrs. Leland Norton, to admit him as a +member of her large cat family, where he still lives. To his praise be +it spoken, he has never forgotten his old friends at Rest Cottage. To +this day, whenever any of them come to call upon him, he honors them +with instant and hearty recognition. Miss Willard was sometimes forced +to be separated from him more than a year at a time, but neither time +nor change had any effect upon Tootsie. At the first sound of her voice +he would spring to her side. He is a magnificent Angora, weighing +twenty-four pounds, with the long, silky hair, the frill, or lord +mayor's chain, the superb curling tail, and the large, full eyes of the +thoroughbred. Then he has proved himself of aristocratic tendencies, has +beautiful manners, is endowed with the human qualities of memory and +discrimination, and is aesthetic in his tastes. + +Being the privileged character that he is, Tootsie always eats at the +table with the family. He has his own chair and bib, and his manners are +said to be exquisite. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS + + +It is quite common for writers on the cat to say, "The story of +Théophile Gautier's cats is too familiar to need comment." On the +contrary, I do not believe it is familiar to the average reader, and +that only those who know Gautier's "Ménagerie In-time" in the original, +recall the particulars of his "White and Black Dynasties." For this +reason they shall be repeated in these pages. I use Mrs. Cashel-Hoey's +translation, partly in a selfish desire to save myself time and labor, +but principally because she has preserved so successfully the +sympathetic and appreciative spirit of M. Gautier himself. + +"Dynasties of cats, as numerous as those of the Egyptian kings, +succeeded each other in my dwelling," says he. "One after another they +were swept away by accident, by flight, by death. All were loved and +regretted: but life is made up of oblivion, and the memory of cats dies +out like the memory of men." After making mention of an old gray cat who +always took his part against his parents, and used to bite Madame +Gautier's legs when she presumed to reprove her son, he passes on at +once to the romantic period, and the commemoration of Childebrand. + +"This name at once reveals a deep design of flouting Boileau, whom I did +not like then, but have since become reconciled to. Has not Nicholas +said:-- + + "'O le plaisant projet d'un poëte ignorant + Que de tant de héros va choisir Childebrant!' + + +"Now I considered Childebrand a very fine name indeed, Merovingian, +mediaeval, and Gothic, and vastly preferable to Agamemnon, Achilles, +Ulysses, or any Greek name whatsoever. Romanticism was the fashion of my +early days: I have no doubt the people of classical times called their +cats Hector, Ajax, or Patroclus. Childebrand was a splendid cat of +common kind, tawny and striped with black, like the hose of Saltabadil +in 'Le Rois' Amuse.' With his large, green, almond-shaped eyes, and his +symmetrical stripes, there was something tigerlike about him that +pleased me. Childebrand had the honor of figuring in some verses that I +wrote to 'flout' Boileau:-- + + "Puis je te décrirai ce tableau de Rembrandt + Que me fait tant plaisir: et mon chat Childebrand, + Sur mes genoux pose selon son habitude, + Levant sur moi la tête avec inquiétude, + Suivra les mouvements de mon doigt qui dans l'air + Esquisse mon récit pour le rendre plus clair. + + +"Childebrand was brought in there to make a good rhyme for Rembrandt, +the piece being a kind of confession of the romantic faith made to a +friend, who was then as enthusiastic as myself about Victor Hugo, Sainte +Beuve, and Alfred de Musset.... I come next to Madame Théophile, a 'red' +cat, with a white breast, a pink nose, and blue eyes, whom I called by +that name because we were on terms of the closest intimacy. She slept at +the foot of my bed: she sat on the arm of my chair while I wrote: she +came down into the garden and gravely walked about with me: she was +present at all my meals, and frequently intercepted a choice morsel on +its way from my plate to my mouth. One day a friend who was going away +for a short time, brought me his parrot, to be taken care of during his +absence. The bird, finding itself in a strange place, climbed up to the +top of its perch by the aid of its beak, and rolled its eyes (as yellow +as the nails in my arm-chair) in a rather frightened manner, also moving +the white membranes that formed its eyelids. Madame Théophile had never +seen a parrot, and she regarded the creature with manifest surprise. +While remaining as motionless as a cat mummy from Egypt in its swathing +bands, she fixed her eyes upon the bird with a look of profound +meditation, summoning up all the notions of natural history that she had +picked up in the yard, in the garden, and on the roof. The shadow of her +thoughts passed over her changing eyes, and we could plainly read in +them the conclusion to which her scrutiny led, 'Decidedly this is a +green chicken.' + +"This result attained, the next proceeding of Madame Théophile was to +jump off the table from which she had made her observations, and lay +herself flat on the ground in a corner of the room, exactly in the +attitude of the panther in Gérôme's picture watching the gazelles as +they come down to drink at a lake. The parrot followed the movements of +the cat with feverish anxiety: it ruffled its feathers, rattled its +chain, lifted one of its feet and shook the claws, and rubbed its beak +against the edge of its trough. Instinct told it that the cat was an +enemy and meant mischief. The cat's eyes were now fixed upon the bird +with fascinating intensity, and they said in perfectly intelligible +language, which the poor parrot distinctly understood, 'This chicken +ought to be good to eat, although it is green.' We watched the scene +with great interest, ready to interfere at need. Madame Théophile was +creeping nearer and nearer almost imperceptibly; her pink nose quivered, +her eyes were half closed, her contractile claws moved in and out of +their velvet sheaths, slight thrills of pleasure ran along her backbone +at the idea of the meal she was about to make. Such novel and exotic +food excited her appetite. + +"All in an instant her back took the shape of a bent bow, and with a +vigorous and elastic bound she sprang upon the perch. The parrot, seeing +its danger, said in a bass voice as grave and deep as M. Prudhomme's +own, 'As tu déjeuné, Jacquot?' + +"This utterance so terrified the cat that she sprang backwards. The +blare of a trumpet, the crash and smash of a pile of plates flung to the +ground, a pistol shot fired off at her ear, could not have frightened +her more thoroughly. All her ornithological ideas were overthrown. + +"'Et de quoi? Du rôti du roi?' continued the parrot. + +"Then might we, the observers, read in the physiognomy of Madame +Théophile, 'This is not a bird, it is a gentleman; it talks.' + + "'Quand j'ai bu du vin clairet, + Tout tourne, tout tourne an cabaret,' + +shrieked the parrot in a deafening voice, for it had perceived that its +best means of defence was the terror aroused by its speech. The cat cast +a glance at me which was full of questioning, but as my response was not +satisfactory, she promptly hid herself under the bed, and from that +refuge she could not be induced to stir during the whole of the day. +People who are not accustomed to live with animals, and who, like +Descartes, regard them as mere machines, will think that I lend +unauthorized meanings to the acts of the 'volatile' and the 'quadruped,' +but I have only faithfully translated their ideas into human language. +The next day Madame Théophile plucked up courage and made another +attempt, which was similarly repulsed. From that moment she gave it up, +accepting the bird as a variety of man. + +"This dainty and charming animal was extremely fond of perfumes, +especially of patchouli and the scent exhaled by India shawls. She was +also very fond of music, and would listen, sitting on a pile of +music-books, while the fair singers who came to try the critic's piano +filled his room with melody. All the time Madame Théophile would evince +great pleasure. She was, however, made nervous by certain notes, and at +the high _la_ she would tap the singer's mouth with her paw. This +was very amusing, and my visitors delighted in making the experiment. It +never failed; the dilettante in fun was not to be deceived. + +"The rule of the 'White Dynasty' belonged to a later epoch, and was +inaugurated in the person of a pretty little kitten as white as a powder +puff, who came from Havana. On account of his spotless whiteness he was +called Pierrot; but when he grew up this name was very properly +magnified into Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, which was far more majestic, and +suggested 'grandee-ism.' [M. Théophile Gautier lays it down as a dogma +that all animals with whom one is much taken up, and who are 'spoiled,' +become delightfully good and amiable. Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre +successfully supported his master's theory; perhaps he suggested it.] + +"He shared in the life of the household with the enjoyment of quiet +fireside friendship that is characteristic of cats. He had his own place +near the fire, and there he would sit with a convincing air of +comprehension of all that was talked of and of interest in it; he +followed the looks of the speakers, and uttered little sounds toward +them as though he, too, had objections to make and opinions to give upon +the literary subjects which were most frequently discussed. He was very +fond of books, and when he found one open on a table he would lie down +on it, turn over the edges of the leaves with his paws, and after a +while fall asleep, for all the world as if he had been reading a +fashionable novel. He was deeply interested in my writing, too; the +moment I took up my pen he would jump upon the desk, and follow the +movement of the penholder with the gravest attention, making a little +movement with his head at the beginning of each line. Sometimes he would +try to take the pen out of my hand. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre never went to bed until I had come in. He would +wait for me just inside the outer door and rub himself to my legs, his +back in an arch, with a glad and friendly purring. Then he would go on +before me, preceding me with a page-like air, and I have no doubt, if I +had asked him, he would have carried the candlestick. Having thus +conducted me to my bedroom, he would wait quietly while I undressed, and +then jump on my bed, take my neck between his paws, gently rub my nose +with his own, and lick me with his small, pink tongue, as rough as a +file, uttering all the time little inarticulate cries, which expressed +as clearly as any words could do his perfect satisfaction at having me +with him again. After these caresses he would perch himself on the back +of the bedstead and sleep there, carefully balanced, like a bird on a +branch. When I awoke, he would come down and lie beside me until I got +up. + +"Pierrot was as strict as a concierge in his notions of the proper hour +for all good people to return to their homes. He did not approve of +anything later than midnight. In those days we had a little society +among friends, which we called 'The Four Candles,'--the light in our +place of meeting being restricted to four candles in silver +candlesticks, placed at the four corners of the tables. Sometimes the +talk became so animated that I forgot all about time, and twice or three +times Pierrot sat up for me until two o'clock in the morning. After a +while, however, my conduct in this respect displeased him, and he +retired to rest without me. I was touched by this mute protest against +my innocent dissipation, and thenceforth came home regularly at twelve +o'clock. Nevertheless, Pierrot cherished the memory of my offence for +some time; he waited to test the reality of my repentance, but when he +was convinced that my conversion was sincere, he deigned to restore me +to his good graces, and resumed his nocturnal post in the anteroom. + +"To gain the friendship of a cat is a difficult thing. The cat is a +philosophical, methodical, quiet animal, tenacious of its own habits, +fond of order and cleanliness, and it does not lightly confer its +friendship. If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your +friend, but never your slave. He keeps his free will, though he loves, +and he will not do for you what he thinks unreasonable; but if he once +gives himself to you, it is with such absolute confidence, such fidelity +of affection. He makes himself the companion of your hours of solitude, +melancholy, and toil. He remains for whole evenings on your knee, +uttering his contented purr, happy to be with you, and forsaking the +company of animals of his own species. In vain do melodious mewings on +the roof invite him to one of those cat parties in which fish bones play +the part of tea and cakes; he is not to be tempted away from you. Put +him down and he will jump up again, with a sort of cooing sound that is +like a gentle reproach; and sometimes he will sit upon the carpet in +front of you, looking at you with eyes so melting, so caressing, and so +human, that they almost frighten you, for it is impossible to believe +that a soul is not there. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre had a sweetheart of the same race and of as +snowy a whiteness as himself. The ermine would have looked yellow by the +side of Seraphita, for so this lovely creature was named, in honor of +Balzac's Swedenborgian romance. Seraphita was of a dreamy and +contemplative disposition. She would sit on a cushion for hours +together, quite motionless, not asleep, and following with her eyes, in +a rapture of attention, sights invisible to mere mortals. Caresses were +agreeable to her, but she returned them in a very reserved manner, and +only in the case of persons whom she favored with her rarely accorded +esteem. She was fond of luxury, and it was always upon the handsomest +easy-chair, or the rug that would best show off her snowy fur, that she +would surely be found. She devoted a great deal of time to her toilet, +her glossy coat was carefully smoothed every morning. She washed herself +with her paw, and licked every atom of her fur with her pink tongue +until it shone like new silver. When any one touched her, she instantly +effaced all trace of the contact; she could not endure to be tumbled. An +idea of aristocracy was suggested by her elegance and distinction, and +among her own people she was a duchess at least. She delighted in +perfumes, would stick her nose into bouquets, bite scented handkerchiefs +with little spasms of pleasure, and walk about among the scent bottles +on the toilet table, smelling at their stoppers; no doubt, she would +have used the powder puff if she had been permitted. Such was Seraphita, +and never did cat more amply justify a poetic name. I must mention here +that, in the days of the White Dynasty, I was also the happy possessor +of a family of white rats, and that the cats, always supposed to be +their natural, invariable, and irreconcilable enemies, lived in perfect +harmony with my pet rodents. The rats never showed the slightest +distrust of the cats, nor did the cats ever betray their confidence. +Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre was very much attached to them. He would sit +close to their cage and observe their gambols for hours together, and if +by any chance the door of the room in which they were left was shut, he +would scratch and mew gently until some one came to open it and allow +him to rejoin his little white friends, who would often come out of the +cage and sleep close to him. Seraphita, who was of a more reserved and +disdainful temper, and who disliked the musky odor of the white rats, +took no part in their games; but she never did them any harm, and would +let them pass before her without putting out a claw. + +"Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, who came from Havana, required a hothouse +temperature: and this he always had in his own apartments. The house +was, however, surrounded by extensive gardens, divided by railings, +through and over which cats could easily climb, and in those gardens +were trees inhabited by a great number of birds. Pierrot would +frequently take advantage of an open door to get out of an evening and +go a-hunting through the wet grass and flower-beds: and, as his mewing +under the windows when he wanted to get in again did not always awaken +the sleepers in the house, he frequently had to stay out until morning. +His chest was delicate, and one very chilly night he caught a cold which +rapidly developed into phthisis. At the end of a year of coughing, poor +Don Pierrot had wasted to a skeleton, and his coat, once so silky, was a +dull, harsh white. His large, transparent eyes looked unnaturally large +in his shrunken face: the pink of his little nose had faded, and he +dragged himself slowly along the sunny side of the wall with a +melancholy air, looking at the yellow autumnal leaves as they danced and +whirled in the wind. Nothing is so touching as a sick animal: it submits +to suffering with such gentle and sad resignation. We did all in our +power to save Pierrot: a skilful doctor came to see him, felt his pulse, +sounded his lungs, and ordered him ass's milk. He drank the prescribed +beverage very readily out of his own especial china saucer. For hours +together he lay stretched upon my knee, like the shadow of a sphinx. I +felt his spine under my finger tips like the beads of a rosary, and he +tried to respond to my caresses by a feeble purr that resembled a +death-rattle. On the day of his death he was lying on his side panting, +and suddenly, with a supreme effort, he rose and came to me. His large +eyes were opened wide, and he gazed at me with a look of intense +supplication, a look that seemed to say, 'Save me, save me, you, who are +a man.' Then he made a few faltering steps, his eyes became glassy, and +he fell down, uttering so lamentable a cry, so dreadful and full of +anguish, that I was struck dumb and motionless with horror. He was +buried at the bottom of the garden under a white rose tree, which still +marks the place of his sepulture. Three years later Seraphita died, and +was buried by the side of Don Pierrot. With her the White Dynasty became +extinct, but not the family. This snow-white couple had three children, +who were as black as ink. Let any one explain that mystery who can. The +kittens were born in the early days of the great renown of Victor Hugo's +'Les Miserables,' when everybody was talking of the new masterpiece, and +the names of the personages in it were in every mouth. The two little +male creatures were called Enjolras and Gavroche, and their sister +received the name of Eponine. They were very pretty, and I trained them +to run after a little ball of paper and bring it back to me when I threw +it into the corner of the room. In time they would follow the ball up to +the top of the bookcase, or fish for it behind boxes or in the bottom of +china vases with their dainty little paws. As they grew up they came to +disdain those frivolous amusements, and assumed the philosophical and +meditative quiet which is the true temperament of the cat. + +"To the eyes of the careless and indifferent observer, three black cats +are just three black cats, but those who are really acquainted with +animals know that their physiognomy is as various as that of the human +race. I was perfectly well able to distinguish between these little +faces, as black as Harlequin's mask, and lighted up by disks of emerald +with golden gleams. Enjolras, who was much the handsomest of the three, +was remarkable for his broad, leonine head and full whiskers, strong +shoulders, and a superb feathery tail. There was something theatrical +and pretentious in his air, like the posing of a popular actor. His +movements were slow, undulatory, and majestic: so circumspect was he +about where he set his feet down that he always seemed to be walking +among glass and china. His disposition was by no means stoical, and he +was much too fond of food to have been approved of by his namesake. The +temperate and austere Enjolras would certainly have said to him, as the +angel said to Swedenborg, 'You eat too much.' I encouraged his +gastronomical tastes, and Enjolras attained a very unusual size and +weight. + +"Gavroche was a remarkably knowing cat, and looked it. He was +wonderfully active, and his twists, twirls, and tumbles were very comic. +He was of a Bohemian temperament, and fond of low company. Thus he would +occasionally compromise the dignity of his descent from the illustrious +Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, grandee of Spain of the first class, and the +Marquesa Dona Seraphita, of aristocratic and disdainful bearing. He +would sometimes return from his expeditions to the street, accompanied +by gaunt, starved companions, whom he had picked up in his wanderings, +and he would stand complacently by while they bolted the contents of his +plate of food in a violent hurry and in dread of dispersion by a +broomstick or a shower of water. I was sometimes tempted to say to +Gavroche, 'A nice lot of friends you pick up,' but I refrained, for, +after all, it was an amiable weakness: he might have eaten his dinner +all by himself. + +"The interesting Eponine was more slender and graceful than her +brothers, and she was an extraordinarily sensitive, nervous, and +electric animal. She was passionately attached to me, and she would do +the honors of my hermitage with perfect grace and propriety. When the +bell rang, she hastened to the door, received the visitors, conducted +them to the salon, made them take seats, talked to them--yes, talked, +with little coos, murmurs, and cries quite unlike the language which +cats use among themselves, and which bordered on the articulate speech +of man. What did she say? She said quite plainly: 'Don't be impatient: +look at the pictures, or talk with me, if I amuse you. My master is +coming down.' On my appearing she would retire discreetly to an +arm-chair or the corner of the piano, and listen to the conversation +without interrupting it, like a well-bred animal accustomed to good +society. + +"Eponine's intelligence, fine disposition, and sociability led to her +being elevated by common consent to the dignity of a person, for reason, +superior instinct, plainly governed her conduct. That dignity conferred +on her the right to eat at table like a person, and not in a corner on +the floor, from a saucer, like an animal. Eponine had a chair by my side +at breakfast and dinner, but in consideration of her size she was +privileged to place her fore paws on the table. Her place was laid, +without a knife and fork, indeed, but with a glass, and she went +regularly through dinner, from soup to dessert, awaiting her turn to be +helped, and behaving with a quiet propriety which most children might +imitate with advantage. At the first stroke of the bell she would +appear, and when I came into the dining room she would be at her post, +upright in her chair, her fore paws on the edge of the tablecloth, and +she would present her smooth forehead to be kissed, like a well-bred +little girl who was affectionately polite to relatives and old people. +When we had friends to dine with us, Eponine always knew that company +was expected. She would look at her place, and if a knife, fork, and +spoon lay near her plate she would immediately turn away and seat +herself on the piano-stool, her invariable refuge. Let those who deny +the possession of reason to animals explain, if they can, this little +fact, apparently so simple, but which contains a world of induction. +From the presence near her plate of those implements which only man can +use, the observant and judicious cat concluded that she ought on this +occasion to give way to a guest, and she hastened to do so. She was +never mistaken: only, when the visitor was a person whom she knew and +liked, she would jump on his knee and coax him for a bit off his plate +by her graceful caresses. She survived her brothers, and was my dear +companion for several years.... Such is the chronicle of the Black +Dynasty." + +Although cats have no place in the Bible, neither can their enemies who +sing the praise of the dog, find much advantage there: for that most +excellent animal is referred to in anything but a complimentary +fashion--"For without are dogs and sorcerers." + +The great prophet of Allah, however, knew a good cat when he saw it. +"Muezza" even contributed her small share to the development of the +Mahometan system: for did she not sit curled up in her master's sleeve, +and by her soft purring soothe and deepen his meditations? And did she +not keep him dreaming so long that she finally became exhausted herself, +and fell asleep in his flowing sleeve; whereupon did not Mahomet, rather +than disturb her, and feeling that he must be about his Allah's +business, cut off his sleeve rather than disturb the much loved Muezza? +The nurses of Cairo tell this story to their young charges to this day. + +Cardinal Richelieu had many a kitten, too; and morose and ill-tempered +as he was, found in them much amusement. His love for them, however, was +not that unselfish love which led Mahomet to cut off his sleeve; but +simply a selfish desire for passing amusement. He cared nothing for that +most interesting process, the development of a kitten into a cat, and +the study of its individuality which is known only to the real lover of +cats. For it is recorded of him that as soon as his pets were three +months old he sent them away, evidently not caring where, and procured +new ones. + +M. Champfleury, however, thinks it possible that there may not be any +real foundation for this story about Richelieu. He refers to the fact +that Moncrif says not a word about the celebrated cardinal's passion for +those creatures; but he does say, "Everybody knows that one of the +greatest ministers France ever possessed, M. Colbert, always had a +number of kittens playing about that same cabinet in which so many +institutions, both honorable and useful to the nation, had their +origin." Can it be that Richelieu has been given credit for Colbert's +virtues? + +In various parts of Chateaubriand's "Memoires" may be found eulogiums on +the cat. So well known was his fondness for them, that even when his +other feelings and interests faded with age and decay, his affections +for cats remained strong to the end. This love became well known to all +his compeers, and once on an embassy to Rome the Pope gave him a cat. He +was called "Micetto." According to Chateaubriand's biographer, M. de +Marcellus, "Pope Leo XII's cat could not fail to reappear in the +description of that domestic hearth where I have so often seen him +basking. In fact, Chateaubriand has immortalized his favorite in the +sketch which begins, 'My companion is a big cat, of a greyish red.'" +This ecclesiastical pet was always dignified and imposing in manners, +ever conscious that he had been the gift of a sovereign pontiff, and had +a tremendous weight of reputation to maintain. He used to stroke his +tail when he desired Madame Recamier to know that he was tired. + +"I love in the cat," said Chateaubriand to M. de Marcellus, "that +independent and almost ungrateful temper which prevents it from +attaching itself to any one: the indifference with which it passes from +the salon to the house-top. When you caress it, it stretches itself out +and arches its back, indeed: but that is caused by physical pleasure, +not, as in the case of the dog, by a silly satisfaction in loving and +being faithful to a master who returns thanks in kicks. The cat lives +alone, has no need of society, does not obey except when it likes, and +pretends to sleep that it may see the more clearly, and scratches +everything that it can scratch. Buffon has belied the cat: I am laboring +at its rehabilitation, and hope to make of it a tolerably good sort of +animal, as times go." + +Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor of England, was another cat-lover, +and his superb cat sat in a cushioned arm-chair by his side in the +zenith of his pride and power, the only one in that select circle who +was not obliged to don a wig and robe while acting in a judicial +capacity. Then there was Bouhaki, the proud Theban cat that used to wear +gold earrings as he sat at the feet of King Hana, his owner, perhaps, +but not his master, and whose reproduction in the tomb of Hana in the +Necropolis at Thebes, between his master's feet in a statue, is one of +the most ancient reproductions of a cat. And Sainte-Beuve, whose cat +used to roam at will over his desk and sit or lie on the precious +manuscripts no other person was allowed to touch; it is flattering to +know that the great Frenchman and I have one habit in common; and Miss +Repplier owns to it too. "But Sainte-Beuve," says she, "probably had +sufficient space reserved for his own comfort and convenience. I have +not; and Agrippina's beautifully ringed tail flapping across my copy +distracts my attention and imperils the neatness of my penmanship." And +even as I write these pages, does the Pretty Lady's daughter Jane lie on +my copy and gaze lovingly at me as I work. + +Julian Hawthorne is another writer whose cat is an accompaniment of his +working hours. In this connection we must not forget M. Brasseur +Wirtgen, a student of natural history who writes of his cat: "My habit +of reading," he says, "which divided us from each other in our +respective thoughts, prejudiced my cat very strongly against my books. +Sometimes her little head would project its profile on the page which I +was perusing, as though she were trying to discover what it was that +thus absorbed me: doubtless, she did not understand why I should look +for my happiness beyond the presence of a devoted heart. Her solicitude +was no less manifest when she brought me rats or mice. She acted in this +case exactly as if I had been her son: dragging enormous rats, still in +the throes of death, to my feet: and she was evidently guided by logic +in offering me a prey commensurate with my size, for she never presented +any such large game to her kittens. Her affectionate attention +invariably caused her a severe disappointment. Having laid the product +of her hunting expedition at my feet, she would appear to be greatly +hurt by my indifference to such delicious fare." + +That Tasso had a cat we know because he wrote a sonnet to her. Alfred de +Musset's cats are apostrophized in his verses. Dr. Johnson's Hodge held +a soft place for many years in the gruff old scholar's breast. And has +not every one heard how the famous Dr. Johnson fetched oysters for his +beloved Hodge, lest the servants should object to the trouble, and vent +their displeasure on his favorite? + +Nor can one forget Sir Isaac Newton and his cats: for is it not alleged +that the great man had two holes cut in his barn door, one for the +mother, and a smaller one for the kitten? + +Byron was fond of cats: in his establishment at Ravenna he had five of +them. Daniel Maclise's famous portrait of Harriet Martineau represents +that estimable woman sitting in front of a fireplace and turning her +face to receive the caress of her pet cat crawling to a resting-place +upon her mistress's shoulder. + +Although La Fontaine in his fables shows such a delicate appreciation of +their character and ways, it is doubtful whether he honestly loved cats. +But his friend and patron, the Duchess of Bouillon, was so devoted to +them that she requested the poet to make her a copy with his own hand of +all his fables in which pussy appears. The exercise-book in which they +were written was discovered a few years ago among the Bouillon papers. + +Baudelaire, it is said, could never pass a cat in the street without +stopping to stroke and fondle it. "Many a time," said Champfleury, "when +he and I have been walking together, have we stopped to look at a cat +curled luxuriously in a pile of fresh white linen, revelling in the +cleanliness of the newly ironed fabrics. Into what fits of contemplation +have we fallen before such windows, while the coquettish laundresses +struck attitudes at the ironing boards, under the mistaken impression +that we were admiring them." It was also related of Baudelaire that, +"going for the first time to a house, he is restless and uneasy until he +has seen the household cat. But when he sees it, he takes it up, kisses +and strokes it, and is so completely absorbed in it, that he makes no +answer to what is said to him." + +Professor Huxley's notorious fondness for cats was a fad which he shared +with Paul de Koch, the novelist, who, at one time, kept as many as +thirty cats in his house. Many descriptions of them are to be found +scattered through his novels. His chief favorite, Fromentin, lived +eleven years with him. + +Pierre Loti has written a charming and most touching history of two of +his cats--Moumette Blanche and Moumette Chinoise--which all true +cat-lovers should make a point of reading. + +Algernon Swinburne, the poet, is devoted to cats. His favorite is named +Atossa. Robert Southey was an ardent lover of cats. Most people have +read his letter to his friend Bedford, announcing the death of one. +"Alas, Grosvenor," he wrote, "this day poor Rumpel was found dead, after +as long and happy a life as cat could wish for, if cats form wishes on +that subject. His full titles were: The Most Noble, the Archduke +Rumpelstiltzchen, Marcus Macbum, Earl Tomlefnagne, Baron Raticide, +Waowhler and Scratch. There should be a court-mourning in Catland, and +if the Dragon (your pet cat) wear a black ribbon round his neck, or a +band of crape _a la militaire_ round one of his fore paws it will +be but a becoming mark of respect." Then the poet-laureate adds, "I +believe we are each and all, servants included, more sorry for his loss, +or, rather, more affected by it, than any of us would like to confess." + +Josh Billings called his favorite cat William, because he considered no +shorter name fitted to the dignity of his character. "Poor old man," he +remarked one day, to a friend, "he has fits now, so I call him +Fitz-William." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND + + +If the growing fancy for cats in this country is benefiting the feline +race as a whole, they have to thank the English people for it. For +certain cats in England are held at a value that seems preposterous to +unsophisticated Americans. At one cat and bird show, held at the Crystal +Palace, near London, some of the cats were valued at thirty-five hundred +pounds sterling ($17,500)--as much as the price of a first-class +race-horse. + +For more than a quarter of a century National Cat Shows have been held +at Crystal Palace and the Westminster Aquarium, which have given great +stimulus to the breeding of fine cats, and "catteries" where high-priced +cats and kittens are raised are common throughout the country. + +England was the first, too, to care for lost and deserted cats and dogs. +At Battersea there is a Temporary Home for both these unfortunates, +where between twenty and twenty-five thousand dogs and cats are +sheltered and fed. The objects of this home, which is supported entirely +by voluntary subscriptions, are to restore lost pets to their owners, to +find suitable homes for unclaimed cats and dogs, and to painlessly +destroy useless and diseased ones. There is a commodious cat's house +where pets may be boarded during their owner's absence; and a separate +house where lost and deserted felines are sheltered, fed, and kindly +tended. + +Since long before Whittington became Lord Mayor of London, indeed, cats +have been popular in England: for did not the law protect them? As to +the truth of the story of Whittington's cat, there has been much earnest +discussion. Although Whittington lived from about 1360 to 1425, the +story seems to have been pretty generally accepted for three hundred +years after his death. A portrait still exists of him, with one hand +holding a cat, and when his old house was remodelled in recent times, a +carved stone was found in it showing a boy with a cat in his arms. +Several similar tales have been found, it is argued, in which the heroes +in different countries have started to make a fortune by selling a cat. +But as rats and mice were extremely common then, and it has been shown +that a single pair of rats will in three years multiply into over six +hundred thousand, which will eat as much as sixty-four thousand men, why +shouldn't a cat be deemed a luxury even for a king's palace? The +argument that the cat of Whittington was a "cat," or boat used for +carrying coal, is disproved by the fact that no account of such vessels +in Whittington's time can be found, and also that the trade in coal did +not begin in Europe for some time afterward. And there really seems +nothing improbable in the story that at a time when a kitten big enough +to kill mice brought fourpence in England, such an animal, taken to a +rat-infested, catless country, might not be sold for a sum large enough +to start an enterprising youth in trade. Surely, the beginnings of some +of our own railroad kings and financiers may as well look doubtful to +future generations. + +It is a pretty story--that of Whittington; how he rose from being a mere +scullion at fourteen, to being "thrice Lord Mayor of London." According +to what are claimed to be authentic documents, the story is something +more than a nursery tale, and runs thus: Poor Dick Whittington was born +at Shropshire, of such very poor parents that the boy, being of an +ambitious nature, left home at fourteen, and walked to London, where he +was taken into the hospital of St. John at Clerkenwell, in a menial +capacity. The prior, noticing his good behavior and diligent conduct, +took a fancy to him, and obtained him a position in a Mr. Fitzwarren's +household on Tower Hill. For some time at this place his prospects did +not improve; he was nothing but a scullion, ridiculed and disliked by +the cook and other servants. Add to this the fact that an incredible +swarm of mice and rats infested the miserable room in which he slept, +and it would seem that he was indeed a "poor Richard." One fortunate +day, however, he conceived the idea of buying a cat, and as good luck +would have it, he was enabled within a few days to earn a penny or two +by blacking the boots of a guest at the house. That day he met a woman +with a cat for sale, and after some dickering (for she asked more money +for it than the boy possessed in the world), Dick Whittington carried +home his cat and put it in a cupboard or closet opening from his room. +That night when he retired he let the cat out of the cupboard, and she +evidently had "no end of fun"; for, according to these authentic +accounts, "she destroyed all the vermin which ventured to make their +appearance." For some time after that she passed her days in the +cupboard (in hiding from the cook) and her nights in catching mice. + +And then came the change. Mr. Fitzwarren was fitting out a vessel for +Algiers, and kindly offered all his servants a chance to send something +to barter with the natives. Poor Dick had nothing but his cat, but the +commercial instinct was even then strong within him, and with an +enterprise worthy of the early efforts of any of our self-made men, he +decided to send that, and accordingly placed it, "while the tears run +plentifully down his cheeks," in the hands of the master of the vessel. +She must have been a most exemplary cat, for by the time they had +reached Algiers, the captain was so fond of her that he allowed no one +to handle her but himself. Not even he, however, expected to turn her +into money; but the opportunity soon came. + +At a state banquet, given by the Dey, the captain and his officers were +astonished to notice that rats and mice ran freely in and out, stealing +half the choice food, which was spread on the carpet; and this was a +common, every-day occurrence. The captain saw his, or Whittington's, +opportunity, and stated that he knew a certain remedy for this state of +affairs; whereupon he was invited to dinner next day, to which he +carried the cat, and the natural consequence ensued. This sudden and +swift extermination of the pests drove the Dey and his court half +frantic with delight; and the captain, who must have been the original +progenitor of the Yankee race, drove a sharp bargain by assuming to be +unwilling to part with the cat, so that the Dey finally "sent on board +his ship the choicest commodities, consisting of gold, jewels, and +silks." + +Meanwhile, things had gone from bad to worse with the youth, destined to +become not only Lord Mayor of London, but the envy and admiration of +future generations of youths; and he made up his mind to run away from +his place. This he did, but while he was on his way to more rural +scenes, he sat down on a stone at the foot of Highgate Hill (a stone +that still remains marked as "Whittington's Stone") and paused to +reflect on his prospects. His thoughts turned back to the home he had +left, where he had at least plenty to eat, and, although the "authentic +reports" use a great many words to tell us so, the boy was homesick. +Just then the sound of Bow Bells reached him, and to his youthful fancy +seemed to call him back:-- + + "Return, return, Whittington; + Thrice Lord Mayor of London." + + +Thus the old tale hath it. At any rate, the boy gave up the idea of +flight and went back to Mr. Fitzwarren's house. The second night after, +his master sent for him in the midst of one of the cook's tirades, and +going to the "parlour" he was apprised of his sudden wealth; because, +added to the rest of his good luck, that captain happened to be an +honest man. And then he went into trade and married the daughter of Mr. +Fitzwarren and became Lord Mayor of London, and lived even happier ever +after than they do in most fairy tales. And everybody, even the cook, +admired and loved him after he had money and position, as has been known +to happen outside of fairy tales. + +Whether or not cats in England owe anything of their position to-day to +the Whittington story, it is certain that they have more really +appreciating friends there than in any other country. The older we grow +in the refinements of civilization, the more we value the finely bred +cat. In England it has long been the custom to register the pedigree of +cats as carefully as dog-fanciers in this country do with their fancy +pets. Some account of the Cat Club Stud Book and Register will be found +in the next chapter. Queen Victoria, and the Princess of Wales, and +indeed many members of the nobility are cat-lovers, and doubtless this +fact influences the general sentiment in England. + +Among the most devoted of Pussy's English admirers is the Hon. Mrs. +McLaren Morrison, who is the happy possessor of some of the most perfect +dogs and cats that have graced the bench. She lives at Kepwick Park, in +her stately home in Yorkshire--a lovely spot, commanding a delightful +view of picturesque Westmoreland on one side and on the other three +surrounded and sheltered by hills and moors. Some of her pets go with +her, however, to her flat in Queen Anne's Mansions, and even to her +residence in Calcutta. It is at Kepwick Park that Mrs. McLaren Morrison +has her celebrated "catteries." Here there are magnificent blue, black +and silver and red Persians; snowy white, blue-eyed beauties; grandly +marked English tabbies; handsome blue Russians, with their gleaming +yellow-topaz eyes; some Chinese cats, with their long, edge-shaped heads, +bright golden eyes, and shiny, short-haired black fur; and a pair of +Japanese pussies, pure white and absolutely without tails. One of the +handsomest specimens of the feline race ever seen is her blue Persian, +Champion Monarch, who, as a kitten in 1893, won the gold medal at the +Crystal Palace given for the best pair of kittens in the show, and the +next year the Beresford Challenge Cup at Cruft's Show, for the best +long-haired cat, besides taking many other honors. Among other well-known +prize winners are the champions Snowball and Forget-me-not, both pure +white, with lovely turquoise-blue eyes. Of Champion Nizam (now dead) that +well-known English authority on cats, Mr. A.A. Clark, said his was the +grandest head of any cat he had ever seen. Nizam was a perfect specimen +of that rare and delicate breed of cats, a pure chinchilla. The numberless +kittens sporting all day long are worthy of the art of Madame Henriette +Ronner, and one could linger for hours in these delightful and most +comfortable catteries watching their gambols. The gentle mistress of this +fair and most interesting domain, the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison herself, +is one of the most attractive and fascinating women of the day--one who +adds to great personal beauty all the charm of mental culture and much +travel. She has made Kepwick Park a veritable House Beautiful with the +rare curios and art treasures collected with her perfect taste in the +many lands she has visited, and it is as interesting and enjoyable to a +virtuoso as it is to an animal lover. Mrs. McLaren Morrison exhibits at +all the cat shows, often entering as many as twenty-five cats. Other +English ladies who exhibit largely are Mrs. Herring, of Lestock House, +and Miss Cockburn Dickinson, of Surrey. Mrs. Herring's Champion Jimmy +is very well known as a first prize-winner in many shows. He is a +short-haired, exquisitely marked silver tabby valued at two thousand +pounds ($10,000). + +Another feline celebrity also well known to frequenters of English cat +shows, is Madame L. Portier's magnificent and colossal Blue Boy, whose +first appearance into this world was made on the day sacred to St. +Patrick, 1895. He has a fine pedigree, and was raised by Madame Portier +herself. Blue Boy commenced his career as a show cat, or rather kitten, +at three months old, when he was awarded a first prize, and when the +judge told his mistress that if he fulfilled his early promise he would +make a grand cat. This he has done, and is now one of the finest +specimens of his kind in England. He weighs over seventeen pounds, and +always has affixed to his cage on the show-bench this request, "Please +do not lift this cat by the neck; he is too heavy." He has long dark +blue fur, with a ruff of a lighter shade and brilliant topaz eyes. +Already Blue Boy has taken many prizes. He is a gelded cat and one of +the fortunate cats who have "Not for Sale" after their names in the show +catalogues. + +To Mrs. C. Hill's beautiful long-haired Patrick Blue fell the honor, at +the Crystal Palace Show in 1896, of a signed and framed photograph of +the Prince of Wales, presented by his Royal Highness for the best +long-haired cat in the show, irrespective of sex or nationality. Besides +the prize given by the Prince, Patrick Blue was the proud winner of the +Beresford Challenge Cup for the best blue long-haired cat, and the India +Silver Bowl for the best Persian. He also was born on St. Patrick's Day, +hence his name. He was bred by Mrs. Blair Maconochie, his father, Blue +Ruin I, being a celebrated gold medallist. His mother, Sylvia, who +belongs to Mrs. Maconochie, has never been shown, her strong point being +her lovely color, which is most happily reproduced in her perfect son. +Patrick Blue has all the many charms of a petted cat, and was +undoubtedly one of the prominent attractions of the first Championship +Show of the National Cat Club in 1896. + +Silver Lambkin is another very famous English cat, owned by Miss +Gresham, of Surrey. Princess Ranee, owned by Miss Freeland, of +Mottisfont, near Romney; Champion Southsea Hector, owned by Miss +Sangster, at Southsea; champions Prince Victor and Shelly, of Kingswood +(both of whom have taken no end of prizes), are other famous English +cats. + +Topso, a magnificent silver tabby male, belonging to Miss Anderson +Leake, of Dingley Hill, was at one time the best long-haired silver +tabby in England, and took the prize on that account in 1887; his sons, +daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters, have all taken prizes at +Crystal Palace in the silver tabby classes, since that time. + +Lady Marcus Beresford has for the last fifteen years made quite a +business of the breeding and rearing of cats. At Bishopsgate, near +Egham, she has what is without doubt the finest cattery. "I have +applications from all parts of the world for my cats and kittens," said +Lady Marcus, in a talk about her hobby, "and I may tell you that it is +largely because of this that I founded the Cat Club, which has for its +object the general welfare of the cat and the improvement of the breed. +My catteries were established in 1890, and at one time I had as many as +150 cats and kittens. Some of my pets live in a pretty cottage covered +with creepers, which might well be called Cat Cottage. No expense has +been spared in the fittings of the rooms, and every provision is made +for warmth and ventilation. One room is set apart for the girl who takes +entire charge of and feeds the pussies. She has a boy who works with her +and performs the rougher tasks. There is a small kitchen for cooking the +meals for the cats, and this is fitted with every requisite. On the +walls are racks to hold the white enamelled bowls and plates used for +the food. There is a medicine chest, which contains everything that is +needful for prompt and efficacious treatment in case pussy becomes sick. +On the wall are a list of the names and a full description of all the +inmates of the cattery, and a set of rules to be observed by both the +cats and their attendants. These rules are not ignored, and it is a +tribute to the intelligence of the cat to see how carefully pussy can +become amenable to discipline, if once given to understand of what that +discipline consists. + +"Then there is a garden cattery. I think this is the prettiest of all. +It is covered with roses and ivy. In this there are three rooms, +provided with shelves and all other conveniences which can add to the +cats' comfort and amusement. The residences of the male cats are most +complete, for I have given them every attention possible. Each male cat +has his separate sleeping apartments, closed with wire and with a 'run' +attached. Close at hand is a large, square grass 'run,' and in this each +gentleman takes his daily but solitary exercise. One of the stringent +rules of the cattery is that no two males shall ever be left together, +and I know that with my cats if this rule were not observed, both in +letter and precept, it would be a case of 'when Greek meets Greek.' + +"I vary the food for my cats as much as possible. One day we will have +most appetizing bowls of fish and rice. At the proper time you can see +these standing in the cat kitchen ready to be distributed. Another day +these bowls will be filled with minced meat. In the very hot weather a +good deal of vegetable matter is mixed with the food. Swiss milk is +given, so there is no fear of its turning sour. For some time I have +kept a goat on the premises, the milk from which is given to the +delicate or younger kittens. + +"I have started many of my poorer friends in cat breeding, and they have +proved conclusively how easily an addition to their income can be made, +not only by breeding good Persian kittens and selling them, but by +exhibiting them at the various shows and taking prizes. But of course +there is a fashion in cats, as in everything else. When I started +breeding blue Persians about fifteen years ago they were very scarce, +and I could easily get twenty-five dollars apiece for my kittens. Now +this variety is less sought after, and self-silvers, commonly called +chinchillas, are in demand." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS + + +The annual cat shows in England, which have been held successively for +more than a quarter of a century, led to the establishment in 1887 of a +National Cat Club, which has steadily grown in membership and interest, +and by the establishment of the National Stud Book and Register has +greatly raised the standard of felines in the mother country. It has +many well-known people as members, life members, or associates; and from +time to time people distinguished in the cat world have been added as +honorary members. + +The officers of the National Cat Club of England, since its +reconstruction in March, 1898, are as follows:-- + +_Presidents._--Her Grace the Duchess of Bedford; Lord Marcus +Beresford. + +_Vice-presidents._--Lily, Duchess of Marlborough, now Lady Wm. +Beresford; the Countess of Warwick; Lady Granville Gordon; Hon. Mrs. +McL. Morrison; Madame Ronner; Mr. Isaac Woodiwiss; the Countess of +Sefton; Lady Hothfield; the Hon. Mrs. Brett; Mr. Sam Woodiwiss; Mr. +H.W. Bullock. + +_President of Committee._--Mr. Louis Wain. + +_Committee_.--Lady Marcus Beresford; Mrs. Balding; Mr. Sidney +Woodiwiss; Mr. Hawkins; Mrs. Blair Maconochie; Mrs. Vallance; Mr. +Brackett; Mr. F. Gresham. + +_Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer_.--Mrs. Stennard Robinson. + +This club has a seal and a motto: "Beauty lives by kindness." It +publishes a stud book in which are registered pedigrees and championship +wins which are eligible for it. Only wins obtained from shows held under +N.C.C. rules are recorded free of charge. The fee for ordinary +registration is one shilling per cat, and the stud book is published +annually. There are over two thousand cats now entered in this National +Cat Club Stud Book, the form of entry being as follows (L.F. means +long-haired female; C.P., Crystal Palace):-- + + * * * * * + +No. 1593, Mimidatzi, L.F. Silver Tabby. + +Miss Anna F. Gardner, Hamswell House, near Bath, shown as Mimi. + +Bred by Miss How, Bridgeyate, near Bristol. Born April, 1893. Alive. + +Sire, Blue Boy the Great of Islington, 1090 (Mrs H.B. Thompson). + +Dam, Boots of Bridgeyate, 1225 (Miss How). + +Prizes won--1st Bilton, 2nd, C.P. 1893, Kitten Class. + + * * * * * + +No. 1225, Boots of Bridgeyate. L.F. Silver Tabby. + +Miss E. How, Bridgeyate House, Warmly, Bristol. + +Former owner, Mrs. Foote, 43 Palace Gardens, Kensington. + +Born March, 1892. Alive. + +Some of the cats entered have records of prizes covering nearly half a +page of the book. The advantage of such a book to cat owners can be +readily seen. A cat once entered never changes its number, no matter how +many owners he may have, and his name cannot be changed after December +31 of the year in which he is registered. + +The more important rules of the English National Cat Club are given in +condensed form as follows:-- + +The name is "The National Cat Club." + +_Objects_: To promote honesty in the breeding of cats, so as to +insure purity in each distinct breed or variety; to determine the +classification required, and to insure the adoption of such +classification by breeders, exhibitors, judges, and the committees of +all cat shows; to encourage showing and breeding by giving championship +and other prizes, and otherwise doing all in its power to protect and +advance the interest of cats and their owners. The National Cat Club +shall frame a separate set of rules for cat shows to be called "National +Cat Club Rules," and the committees of those cat shows to which the +rules are given, shall be called upon to sign a guarantee to the +National Cat Club binding them to provide good penning and effectual +sanitation, also to the punctual payment of prize money and to the +proper adjudication of prizes. + +_Stud Book_: The National Cat Club shall keep a stud book. + +_Neuter Classes_.--For gelded cats. + +_Kitten Classes_.--Single entries over three and under eight months. + +_Kitten Brace_.--Kittens of any age. + +_Brace_.--For two cats of any age. + +_Team_.--For three or more cats, any age. + + +In Paris, although cats have not been commonly appreciated as in +England, there is an increasing interest in them, and cat shows are now +a regular feature of the Jardin d'Acclimation. This suggests the subject +of the cat's social position in France. Since the Revolution the animal +has conquered in this country "_toutes les liberties_," excepting +that of wearing an entire tail, for in many districts it is the fashion +to cut the caudal appendage short. + +In Paris cats are much cherished wherever they can be without causing +too much unpleasantness with the landlord. The system of living in flats +is not favorable to cat culture, for the animal, not having access +either to the tiles above or to the gutter below, is apt to pine for +fresh air, and the society of its congeners. Probably in no other city +do these creatures lie in shop windows and on counters with such an +arrogant air of proprietorship. In restaurants, a very large and fat cat +is kept as an advertisement of the good feeding to be obtained on the +premises. There is invariably a cat in a _charbonnier's_ shop, and +the animal is generally one that was originally white, but long ago came +to the conclusion that all attempts to keep itself clean were hopeless. +Its only consolation is that it is never blacker than its master. It is +well known that the Persians and Angoras are much esteemed in Paris and +are, to some extent, bred for sale. In the provinces, French cats are +usually low-bred animals, with plebeian heads and tails, the stringlike +appearance of the latter not being improved by cropping. Although not +generally esteemed as an article of food in France, there are still many +people scattered throughout the country who maintain that a _civet de +chat_ is as good, or better, than a _civet de lievre_. + +M. François Coppée's fondness for cats as pets is so well known that +there was great fitness in placing his name first upon the jury of +awards at the 1896 cat show in Paris. Such other well-known men as Émile +Zola, André Theuriet, and Catulle Mendes, also figured on the list. +There is now an annual "Exposition Feline Internationale." + +In this country the first cat show of general interest was held at +Madison Square Garden, New York, in May, 1895. Some years before, there +had been a cat show under the auspices of private parties in Boston, and +several minor shows had been held at Newburgh, N.Y., and other places. +But the New York shows were the first to attract general attention. One +hundred and seventy-six cats were exhibited by one hundred and +twenty-five owners, besides several ocelots, wild cats, and civets. For +some reason the show at Madison Square Garden in March, 1896, catalogued +only one hundred and thirty-two cats and eighty-two owners. Since that +time there have been no large cat shows in New York. + +There have been several cat shows in Boston since 1896, but these are so +far only adjuncts to poultry and pigeon shows. Great interest has been +manifest in them, however, and the entries have each year run above a +hundred. Some magnificent cats are exhibited, although as a rule the +animals shown are somewhat small, many kittens being placed there for +sale by breeders. + +Several attempts to start successful cat clubs in this country have been +made. At the close of the New York show in 1896, an American Cat Club +was organized for the purpose "of investigating, ascertaining, and +keeping a record of the pedigrees of cats, and of instituting, +maintaining, controlling, and publishing a stud book, or book of +registry of such kind of domestic animals in the United States of +America and Canada, and of promoting and holding exhibitions of such +animals, and generally for the purpose of improving the breed thereof, +and educating the public in its knowledge of the various breeds and +varieties of cats." + +The officers were as follows:-- + +_President_.--Rush S. Huidekoper, 154 E. 57th St., New York City. + +_Vice-presidents_.--W.D. Mann, 208 Fifth Ave., New York City; Mrs. +E.N. Barker, Newburgh, N.Y. + +_Secretary-treasurer_.--James T. Hyde, 16 E. 23d St., New York City. + +_Executive Committee_.--T. Farrar Rackham, E. Orange, N.J.; Miss +Edith Newbold, Southampton, L.I.; Mrs. Harriet C. Clarke, 154 W. 82d +St., New York City; Charles R. Pratt, St. James Hotel, New York City; +Joseph W. Stray, 229 Division St., Brooklyn, N.Y. + +More successful than this club, however, is the Beresford Cat Club +formed in Chicago in the winter of 1899. The president is Mrs. Clinton +Locke, who is a member of the English cat clubs, and whose kennel in +Chicago contains some of the finest cats in America. The Beresford Cat +Club has the sanction of John G. Shortall, of the American Humane +Society, and on its honorary list are Miss Agnes Repplier, Madame +Ronner, Lady Marcus Beresford, Miss Helen Winslow, and Mr. Louis Wain. + +At their cat shows, which are held annually, prizes are offered for all +classes of cats, from the common feline of the back alley up to the +aristocratic resident of milady's boudoir. + +The Beresford Club Cat shows are the most successful of any yet given in +America. One hundred and seventy-eight prizes were awarded in the show +of January, 1900, and some magnificent cats were shown. It is said by +those who are in a position to know that there are no better cats shown +in England now than can be seen at the Beresford Show in Chicago. The +exhibits cover short and long haired cats of all colors, sizes, and +ages, with Siamese cats, Manx cats, and Russian cats. At the show in +January, 1900, Mrs. Clinton Locke exhibited fourteen cats of one color, +and Mrs. Josiah Cratty five white cats. This club numbers one hundred +and seventy members and has a social position and consequent strength +second to none in America. It is a fine, honorable club, which has for +its objects the protection of the Humane Society and the caring for all +cats reported as homeless or in distress. It aims also to establish +straightforward and honest dealings among the catteries and to do away +with the humbuggery which prevails in some quarters about the sales and +valuation of high-bred cats. This club cannot fail to be of great +benefit to such as want to carry on an honest industry by the raising +and sale of fine cats. It will also improve the breeding of cats in this +country, and thereby raise the standard and promote a more general +intelligence among the people with regard to cats. Some of the best +people in the United States belong to the Beresford Club, the membership +of which is by no means confined to Chicago; on the contrary, the club +is a national one and the officers and board of directors are:-- + +_President._--Mrs. Clinton Locke. + +_1st Vice-president._--Mrs W. Eames Colburn. + +_2d Vice-president._--Mrs. F.A. Howe. + +_Corresponding Secretary._--Mrs. Henry C. Clark. + +_Recording Secretary_.--Miss Lucy Claire Johnstone. + +_Treasurer_.--Mrs. Charles Hampton Lane. + +Mrs. Elwood H. Tolman. + +Mrs. J.H. Pratt. + +Mrs. Mattie Fisk Green. + +Mrs. F.A. Story. + +Miss Louise L. Fergus. + +The club is anxious to have members all over the United States, just as +the English cat clubs do. The non-resident annual fees are only one +dollar, and a member has to be proposed by one and endorsed by two other +members. The register cats for the stud book are entered at one dollar +each, and it is proposed to give shows once a year. The main objects of +the club are to improve the breeds of fancy cats in America, to awaken a +more general interest in them, and to secure better treatment for the +ordinary common cat. The shows will be given for the benefit of the +Humane Society. + +The Chicago Cat Club has done excellent work also, having established a +cat home, or refuge, for stray, homeless, or diseased cats, with a +department for boarding pet cats during the absence of their owners. It +is under the personal care and direction of Dr. C.A. White, 78 E. 26th +Street. The first cat to be admitted there was one from Cleveland, Ohio, +which was to be boarded for three months during the absence of its owner +in Europe and also to be treated for disease. This club was incorporated +under the state laws of Illinois, on January 26, 1899. In connection +with it is a children's cat club, which has for its primary object the +teaching of kindness to animals by awakening in the young people an +appreciative love for cats. At the show of the Chicago Cat Club, small +dogs and cavies are exhibited also, the Cavy Club and the Pet Dog Club +having affiliated with the Chicago Cat Club. + +The president of the Chicago Cat Club is Mrs. Leland Norton, of the +Drexel Kennels, at 4011 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago. The corresponding +secretary is Mrs. Laura Daunty Pelham, 315 Interocean Building, and the +other officers are: Vice-president, Miss Gertrude Estabrooks; recording +secretary, Miss Jennie Van Allen; and treasurer, Mrs. Ella B. Shepard. +Membership is only one dollar a year, and the registration fee in the +Chicago stud book fifty cents for each cat. + +The cat shows already held and the flourishing state of our cat clubs +have proved that America has as fine, if not finer, cats than can be +found in England, and that interest in finely bred cats is on the +increase in this country. The effect of the successful cat clubs and cat +shows must be to train intelligent judges and to raise the standard of +cats in this country. It will also tend to make the cat shows of such a +character that kind-hearted owners need not hesitate to enter their +choicest cats. As yet, however, the judging at cat shows is not so well +managed as in England. It should be a rule that the judges of cats +should not only understand their fine points, but should be in sympathy +with the little pets. + +Cat dealers who have a number of cats entered for competition, should +not be allowed on the board of judges. In England, the cats to be judged +are taken by classes into a tent for the purpose, and the door is +fastened against all but the judges; whereas over here the cats are too +often taken out of their cages in the presence of a crowd of spectators +and judged on a table or some public place, thereby frightening the +timid ones and bringing annoyance to the owners. + +Again, there should be several judges. In England there are seven, +including two or three women, and these are assigned to different +classes: Mr. Harrison Weir, F.R.H.S., the well-known authority on cats, +and Louis Wain, the well-known cat artist, are among them. In this +country there are a number of women who are not dealers, but who are +fully posted in the necessary qualifications for a high-bred cat. +American cat shows should have at least three judges, one of whom, at +least, should be a woman. A cat should be handled gently and kept as +calm as possible during the judging. Women are naturally more gentle in +their methods, and more tenderhearted. When my pets are entered for +competition, may some wise, kind woman have the judging of them! + +In judging a cat the quality and quantity of its fur is the first thing +considered. In a long-haired cat this includes the "lord mayor's chain," +or frill, the tail, and, most important of all, the ear-tufts. The tufts +between the toes and the flexibility of the tail are other important +points. The shape of head, eyes, and body are also carefully noted. A +short-haired cat is judged first for color, then for eyes, head, +symmetry, and ears. + +In all cats the head should show breadth between the eyes. The eyes +should be round and open. White cats to be really valuable should have +blue eyes (without deafness); black cats should have yellow eyes; other +cats should have pea-green eyes, or in some cases, as in the brown, +self-colored eyes. The nose should be short and tapering. The teeth +should be good, and the claws flat. The lower leg should be straight, +and the upper hind leg lie at closed angles. The foot should be small +and round (in the maltese, pointed). A good cat has a light frame, but a +deep chest; a slim, graceful, and fine neck; medium-sized ears with +rounded tips. The croup should be square and high; the tail of a +short-haired cat long and tapering, and of a long-haired cat broad and +bent over at the end. + +The good results of a cat show are best told in a few words by one who +has acted as judge at an American exhibition. + +"One year," he said, "people have to learn that there is such a thing as +a cat; the next they come to the show and learn to tell the different +breeds; another year they learn the difference between a good cat and a +poor one; and the next year they become exhibitors, and tell the judges +how to award the premiums." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN AMERICA + + +One of the first American women to start a "cattery" in this country was +Mrs. Clinton Locke, wife of the rector of Grace Church, Chicago. As a +clergyman's wife she has done a great deal of good among the various +charities of her city simply from the income derived from her kennels. +She has been very generous in gifts of her kittens to other women who +have made the raising of fine cats a means to add to a slender income, +and has sent beautiful cats all over the United States, to Mexico, and +even to Germany. Under her hospitable roof at 2825 Indiana Avenue is a +cat family of great distinction. First, there is The Beadle, a splendid +blue male with amber eyes, whose long pedigree appears in the third +volume of the N.C.C.S.B. under the number 1872, sired by Glaucus, +and his dam was Hawthorne Bounce. His pedigree is traced for many +generations. He was bred by Mrs. Dean of Hawthornedene, Slough, England. +The Beadle took first prize at the cat show held in Chicago in 1896. He +also had honorable mention at two cat shows in England when a kitten, +under the name of Bumble Bee. Lord Gwynne is a noble specimen, a +long-haired white cat with wonderful blue eyes. He was bred from +Champion Bundle, and his mother was out of The Masher, No. 1027, winner +of many championships. His former owner was Mrs. Davies, of Upper +Cattesham. Mrs. Locke purchased him from A.A. Clarke, one of the best +judges of cats in England. Lord Gwynne took a prize at the Brighton Cat +Show in England in 1895, as a kitten. The father of The Beadle's mate, +Rosalys, was the famous "Bluebeard." + +Mrs. Locke's chinchillas are the finest ones in this country. Atossa, +the mother cat, has a wonderful litter of kittens. She was bred to Lord +Argent, one of the three celebrated stud chinchillas in England. She +arrived in this country in July, and ten days after gave birth to her +foreign kittens. One of the kittens has been sold to Mrs. Dr. +Forsheimer, of Cincinnati, and another to Mrs. W.E. Colburn, of South +Chicago. The others Mrs. Locke will not part with at any price. + +Smerdis, the grand chinchilla male brought over as a future mate for +Atossa, is a royal cat. He looks as though he had run away from Bengal, +but, like all of Mrs. Locke's cats, he is gentle and loving. He is the son +of Lord Southampton, the lightest chinchilla stud in England (N.C.C.S.B. +1690), and his mother is Silver Spray, No. 1542. His maternal grandparents +are Silver King and Harebell, and his great-grandparents Perso and +Beauty,--all registered cats. On his father's side a pedigree of three +generations can be traced. One of her more recent importations is Lord +Gwynne's mate, Lady Mertice, a beautiful long-haired cat with blue eyes. +Other famous cats of hers have been Bettina, Nora, Doc, Vashti, Marigold, +Grover, and Wendell. + +One of Mrs Locke's treasures is a _bona fide_ cat mummy, brought by +Mrs. Locke from Egypt. It has been verified at the Gizeh Museum to be +four thousand years old. + +It is fully twenty-five years since Mrs. Locke began to turn her +attention to fine cats, and when she imported her first cat to Chicago +there was only one other in the United States. That one was Mrs. Edwin +Brainard's Madam, a wonderful black, imported from Spain. Her first +long-haired cat was Wendell, named for the friend who brought him from +Persia, and his descendants are now in the Lockehaven Cattery. Queen +Wendella is one of the most famous cats in America to-day, and mother of +the beautiful Lockehaven Quartette. These are all descended from the +first Wendell. The kittens in the Lockehaven Quartette went to Mrs. S.S. +Leach, Bonny Lea, New London, Ct.; Miss Lucy Nichols, Ben Mahr Cattery, +Waterbury, Ct.; Miss Olive Watson, Warrensburg, Pa.; and Mrs. B.M. +Gladding, at Memphis, Tenn, Mrs. Locke's Lord Argent, descended from +Atossa and the famous Lord Argent, of England, is a magnificent cat, +while her Smerdis is the son of the greatest chinchillas in the world. +Rosalys II, now owned by Mr. C.H. Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., was once her +cat, and was the daughter of Rosalys (owned by Miss Nichols, of +Waterbury, Ct), who was a granddaughter of the famous Bluebeard, of +England. These, with the beautiful brown tabby, Crystal, owned by Mr. +Jones, have all been prize winners. Lucy Claire is a recent importation, +who won second and third prizes in England under the name of Baby +Flossie. She is the daughter of Duke of Kent and Topso, of Merevale. Her +paternal grandparents are Mrs. Herring's well-known champion, Blue Jack, +and Marney. The maternal grandparents are King Harry, a prize winner at +Clifton and Brighton, and Fluff. + +Mrs. Locke's cats are all imported. She has sometimes purchased cats +from Maine or elsewhere for people who did not care to pay the price +demanded for her fine kittens, but she has never had in her own cattery +any cats of American origin. Her stock, therefore, is probably the +choicest in America. She always has from twenty to twenty-five cats, and +the cat-lover who obtains one of her kittens is fortunate indeed. A +beautiful pair of blacks in Mrs. Locke's cattery have the most desirable +shade of amber eyes, and are named "Blackbird" and "St. Tudno"; she has +also a choice pair of Siamese cats called "Siam" and "Sally Ward." + +Mrs. Josiah Cratty, of Oak Park, has a cattery called the "Jungfrau +Katterie," and her cats are remarkably beautiful. Her Bartimaeus and +True Blue are magnificent white cats, sired by Mrs. Locke's Lord Gwynne. + +Miss L.C. Johnstone, of Chicago, has some of the handsomest cats in the +country. Cherie is a wonderful blue shaded cat; Lord Humm is a splendid +brown tabby; while Beauty Belle is an exceedingly handsome white cat. +Miss Johnstone takes great pains with her cats, and is rewarded by +having them rated among the best in America. + +Some of the beautiful cats which have been sent from Chicago to homes +elsewhere are Teddy Roosevelt, a magnificent white, sired by Mrs. W.E. +Colburn's Paris, and belonging to Mrs. L. Kemp, of Huron, S. Dak.; +Silver Dick, a gorgeous buff and white, whose grandmother was Mrs. +Colburn's Caprice, and who is owned by Mrs. Porter L. Evans, of East St. +Louis; Toby, a pure white with green eyes, owned by Mrs. Elbert W. +Shirk, of Indianapolis; and Amytis, a chinchilla belonging to Mrs. S.S. +Leach, of New London, sired by Mrs. Locke's Smerdis, and the daughter of +Rosalys II. + +Miss Cora Wallace, of East Brady, Pa., has Lord Ruffles, son of the +first Rosalys and The Beadle, formerly Bumble Bee. Mrs. Fisk Greene, of +Chicago, now owns a beautiful cat in Bumble Bee, and another in Miss +Merrylegs, a blue with golden eyes, the daughter of Bumble Bee and Black +Sapho. The Misses Peacock, of Topeka, have a pair of whites called +Prince Hilo and Rosebud, the latter having blue eyes. Mrs. Frederick +Monroe, of Riverside, Ill., owns a remarkable specimen of a genuine +Russian cat, a perfect blue of extraordinary size. Miss Elizabeth +Knight, of Milwaukee, has a beautiful silver tabby, Winifred, the +daughter of Whychwood, Miss Kate Loraine Gage's celebrated silver tabby, +of Brewster, N.Y. The most perfect "lavender blue" cat belongs to Miss +Lucy E. Nichols, of Waterbury, Ct., and is named Roscal. He has +beautiful long fur, with a splendid ruff and tail, and is a son of +Rosalys and The Beadle. + +Mrs. Leland Norton has a number of magnificent cats. It was she who +adopted Miss Frances Willard's "Tootsie," the famous cat which made two +thousand dollars for the temperance cause. Miss Nella B. Wheatley has +very fine kennels, and raises some beautiful cats. Her Taffy is a +beautiful buff and white Angora, which has been very much admired. Her +cats have been sold to go to many other cities. Speaking from her own +experience Miss Wheatley says, "Raising Angoras is one of the most +fascinating of employments, and I have found, when properly taken care +of, they are among the most beautiful, strong, intelligent, and playful +of all animals." + +Mrs. W.E. Colburn is another very successful owner of cat kennels. She +has had some of the handsomest cats in this country, among which are +"Paris," a magnificent white cat with blue eyes, and his mother, +"Caprice," who has borne a number of wonderfully fine pure white Angoras +with the most approved shade of blue eyes. Her cattery is known as the +"Calumet Kennel," and there is no better judge of cats in the country +than Mrs. Colburn. + +So much has been said of the cats which were "mascots" on the ships +during the Cuban War that it is hardly necessary to speak of them. Tom, +the mascot of the _Maine_, and Christobal have been shown in +several cities of the Union since the war. + +The most beautiful collection of brown tabbies is owned by Mr. C.H. +Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., who has the "Crystal Cattery." Crystal, the son +of Mrs. E.M. Barker's "King Humbert," is the champion brown tabby of +America, and is a magnificent creature, of excellent disposition and +greatly admired by cat fanciers everywhere. Mona Liza, his mate, and +Goozie and Bubbles make up as handsome a quartet of this variety as one +could wish to see. Goozie's tail is now over twelve inches in +circumference. Mr. Jones keeps about twenty fine cats in stock all the +time. + +The most highly valued cat in America is Napoleon the Great, whose owner +has refused four thousand dollars for him. A magnificent fellow he is +too, with his bushy orange fur and lionlike head. He is ten years old +and weighs twenty-three pounds, which is a remarkable weight in a male +cat, only gelded ones ordinarily running above fifteen pounds. Napoleon +was bred by a French nobleman, and was born at the Chateau +Fontainebleau, near Paris, in 1888. He is a pure French Angora, which is +shown by his long crinkly hair--so long that it has to be frequently +clipped to preserve the health and comfort of the beautiful creature. +This clipping is what causes the uneven quality of fur which appears in +his picture. His mother was a famous cat, and his grandmother was one of +the grandest dams of France (no pun intended). The latter lived to be +nineteen years old, and consequently Napoleon the Great is regarded by +his owners as a mere youth. He has taken first prizes and medals +wherever he has been exhibited, and at Boston, 1897, won the silver cup +offered for the best cat in the exhibition. + +Another fine cat belonging to Mrs. Weed, is Marguerite, mother of Le +Noir, a beautiful black Angora, sired by Napoleon the Great and owned by +Mrs. Weed. Juno is Napoleon's daughter, born in 1894, and is valued at +fifteen hundred dollars. When she was seven months old her owners +refused two hundred dollars for her. She is a tortoise-shell and white +French Angora, and a remarkably beautiful creature. All these cats are +great pets, and are allowed the freedom of the house and barns, although +when they run about the grounds there is always a man in attendance. Six +or seven thousand dollars' worth of cats sporting on the lawn together +is a rich sight, but not altogether without risk. + +Mrs. Fabius M. Clarke's "Persia," a beautiful dark chinchilla, is one of +the finest cats in this country. She began her career by taking special +and first prizes at Fastmay's Cat Show in England, as the best long-haired +kitten. She also took the first prize as a kitten at Lancashire, and at +the National Cat Show in New York in 1895. She was bred in England; sire, +King of Uhn; dam, Brunette, of pure imported Persian stock. Mrs. Clarke +brought her home in January, 1895, and she is still worshipped as a family +pet at her New York home. "Sylvio" was also brought over at the same time. +He was a beautiful long-haired male silver tabby, and bred by Mrs. A.F. +Gardner. Sylvio was sired by the famous Topso of Dingley (owned by Miss +Leake), famous as the best long-haired tabby in England. Sylvio's mother +was Mimidatzi, whose pedigree is given in the previous chapter. "Mimi's" +sire was the champion Blue Boy the Great, whose mother was Boots of +Bridgeyate, whose pedigree is also given in the extract from the stud +book. Sylvio took a first prize at the New York Show, 1895, but +unfortunately was poisoned before he was a year old. This seems the +greater pity, because he had a remarkably fine pedigree, and gave promise +of being one of the best cats America has yet seen. + +Persia is a handsome specimen of the fine blue chinchilla class. She is +quiet, amiable, and shows her high breeding in her good manners and +intelligence. Her tail is like a fox's brush, and her ruff gladdens the +heart of every cat fancier that beholds her. She is an aristocratic +little creature, and seems to feel that she comes of famous foreign +ancestry. Mrs. Clarke makes great pets of her beautiful cats, and trains +them to do many a cunning trick. + +Another cat which has won several prizes, and took the silver bowl +offered for the best cat and litter of kittens in the 1895 cat show of +New York is Ellen Terry, a handsome orange and white, exhibited by Mrs. +Fabius M. Clarke. At that show she had seven beautiful kittens, and they +all reposed in a dainty white and yellow basket with the mother, +delighting the hearts of all beholders. She now belongs to Mrs. Brian +Brown, of Brooklyn. She is a well-bred animal, with a pretty face and +fine feathering. One of the kittens who won the silver bowl in 1895 took +the second prize for long-haired white female in New York, in March, +1896. She is a beautiful creature, known as Princess Dinazarde, and +belongs to Mrs. James S.H. Umsted, of New York. + +Sylvia is still in Mrs. Clarke's possession, and is a beautiful +creature, dainty, refined, and very jealous of her mistress's affection. +Mrs. Clarke also owns a real Manx cat, brought from the Isle of Man by +Captain McKenzie. It acts like a monkey, climbing up on mantels and +throwing down pictures and other small objects, in the regular monkey +spirit of mischief. It has many queer attributes, and hops about like a +rabbit. She also owns Sapho, who was bred by Ella Wheeler Wilcox from +her Madame Ref and Mr. Stevens's Ajax, an uncommonly handsome white +Angora. + +The sire of Topso and Sylvia was Musjah, owned by Mr. Ferdinand Danton, +a New York artist. He was a magnificent creature, imported from Algiers +in 1894; a pure blue Persian of uncommon size and beautiful coloring. +Musjah was valued at two hundred dollars, but has been stolen from Mr. +Danton. Probably his present owner will not exhibit him at future cat +shows. + +Ajax is one of the finest white Angoras in this country. His owner, Mr. +D.W. Stevens, of West-field, Mass., has refused five hundred dollars for +him, and would not consider one thousand dollars as a fair exchange for +the majestic creature. He was born in 1893, and is valued, not only for +his fine points, but because he is a family pet, with a fine disposition +and uncommon intelligence. At the New York show in 1895, and at several +other shows, he has won first prizes. + +One of his sons bids fair to be as fine a cat as Ajax. This is Sampson, +bred by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Madame Ref, and owned by Mrs. Brian +Brown. Mr. Stevens has a number of other high-bred cats, one of whom is +Raby, a reddish black female, with a red ruff. Another is Lady, who is +pure white; and then there are Monkey and Midget, who are black and +white Angoras. All of these cats are kept in a pen, half of which is +within the barn, and the other half out of doors and enclosed by wire +netting. Ajax roams over the house at will, and the others pass some of +the time there, but the entire collection, sometimes numbering +twenty-five, is too valuable to be given the freedom of all outdoors. +Both Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are very fond of cats, and have made a study +of them in sickness and health. Some years ago, a malicious raid was +made on the pen, and every cat poisoned with the exception of Raby, +whose life was saved only by frequent and generous doses of skunk's oil +and milk. + +At the first New York show, Miss Ethel Nesmith Anderson's Chico, an +imported Persian, took the second prize, after Ajax, in the pure white, +longhaired class. The third prize was won by Snow, another imported +Angora, belonging to Mr. George A. Rawson, of Newton, Mass. Snow had +already taken a prize at Crystal Palace. He is a magnificent animal. Mr. +Rawson owns a number of beautiful cats, which are the pride of his +family, and bring visitors from all parts of the country. His +orange-colored, long-haired Dandy won first prizes at the Boston shows +of 1896 and 1897 in the gelded class. He is beautifully marked, and has +a disposition as "childlike and bland" as the most exacting owner could +wish. Miss Puff is also owned by Mr. Rawson, and presents him with +beautiful white Angora kittens every year. The group of ten white +kittens, raised by him in 1896, gives some idea of the beauty of these +kittens: although the picture was taken with a high wind blowing in +their faces, causing one white beauty to conceal all marks of +identification except an ear, and another to hide completely behind his +playmates. + +Mustapha was entered by Dr. Huidekoper in the first New York show, but +not for competition. He was a magnificent brindled Persian gelded cat, +six years old, who enjoyed the plaudits of the multitude just as well as +though he had taken first prize. He was very fond of his master, but +very shy with strangers when at home. He slept on the library desk, or a +cushion next his master's bed whenever he could be alone with the +doctor, but at other times preferred his own company or that of the +cook. + +Another cat that attracted a great deal of attention was Master Pettet's +Tommy, a white Persian, imported in 1889 and valued at five hundred +dollars, although no money consideration could induce his owners to part +with him. He was brought from the interior of Persia, where he was +captured in a wild state. He was kept caged for over a year, and would +not be tamed; but at last he became domesticated, and is now one of the +dearest pets imaginable. His fur is extremely long and soft, without a +colored hair. His tail is broad and carried proudly aloft, curling over +toward his back when walking. His face is full of intelligence: his ears +well-tipped and feathered, and his ruff a thing of beauty and a joy +forever. + +King Max, a long-haired, black male, weighing thirteen pounds at the age +of one year, and valued at one thousand dollars, took first prizes in +Boston in January, 1897, '98, and '99. He is owned by Mrs. E.R. Taylor, +of Medford, Mass., and attracts constant attention during shows. His fur +is without a single white hair and is a finger deep; his ruff encircles +his head like a great aureole. He is not only one of the most beautiful +cats I have ever seen, but one of the best-natured: as his reputation +for beauty spreads among visitors at the show, everybody wants to see +him, and he has no chance at all for naps. Generally he is brought +forward and taken from his cage a hundred times a day; but not once does +he show the least sign of ill-temper, and even on the last day of the +show he keeps up a continual low purr of content and happiness. Perhaps +he knows how handsome he is. + +Grover B., the Mascotte, is a Philadelphia cat who took the twenty-five +dollar gold medal in 1895, at the New York show, as the heaviest white +cat exhibited. He belongs to Mr. and Mrs. W.P. Buchanan, and weighs over +twenty pounds. He is a thoroughbred, and is valued at one thousand +dollars, having been brought from the Isle of Malta, and he wears a +one-hundred-dollar gold collar. He is a remarkable cat, noted +particularly for his intelligence and amiability. He is very dainty in +his choice of food, and prefers to eat his dinners in his high chair at +the table. He has a fascinating habit of feeding himself with his paws. +He is very talkative just before meal-times, and is versed in all the +feline arts of making one's self understood. He waits at the front door +for his master every night, and will not leave him all the evening. He +sleeps in a bed of his own, snugly wrapped up in blankets, and he is +admired by all who know him, not more for his beauty than for his +excellent deportment. He furnishes one more proof that a properly +trained and well-cared-for cat has a large amount of common sense and +appreciation. + +Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's tiger cat Dick attracted a great deal of +attention at the first New York show. He weighs twenty-two pounds and is +three feet long, with a girth of twenty-four inches; and he has attained +some degree of prominence in her writings. + +A trio of cats that were a centre of attraction at that first show +belonged to Colonel Mann, of _Town Topics_. They were jet black, +and rejoiced in the names of Taffy, The Laird, and Little Billee. They +took a first prize, but two of them have since come to an untimely end. +Colonel Mann is a devoted lover of animals, and has given a standing +order that none of his employees shall, if they see a starving kitten on +the street, leave it to suffer and die. Accordingly his office is a sort +of refuge for unfortunate cats, and one may always see a number of +happy-looking creatures there, who seem to appreciate the kindness which +surrounds them. The office is in a fifth story overlooking Fifth Avenue: +and the cats used to crawl out on the wide window-ledge in summer-time +and enjoy the air and the view of Madison Square. But alas! The Laird +and Little Billee came to their deaths by jumping from their high perch +after sparrows and falling to the pavement below. Now there is a strong +wire grating across the windows, and Taffy, a monstrous, shiny black +fellow, is the leader in the "_Town Topics_ Colony." + +Dr. H.L. Hammond, of Killingly, Ct., makes a speciality of the rare +Australian cats, and has taken numerous prizes with them at every cat +show in this country, where they are universally admired. His Columbia +is valued at six hundred dollars, and his Tricksey at five hundred +dollars. They are, indeed, beautiful creatures, though somewhat unique +in the cat world, as we see it. They are very sleek cats, with fur so +short, glossy, and fine that it looks like the finest satin. Their heads +are small and narrow, with noses that seem pointed when compared with +other cats. They are very intelligent and affectionate little creatures, +and make the loveliest of pets. Dr. and Mrs. Hammond are extremely fond +of their unusual and valuable cat family,--and tell the most interesting +tales of their antics and habits. His Columbia was an imported cat, and +the doctor has reason to believe that she with her mate are originally +from the Siamese cat imported from Siam to Australia. They are all very +delicate as kittens, the mother rarely having more than one at a time. +With two exceptions, these cats have never had more than two kittens at +a litter. They are very partial to heat, but cannot stand cold weather. +They have spells of sleeping when nothing has power to disturb them, but +when they do wake up they have a "high time," running and playing. They +are affectionate, being very fond of their owner, but rather shy with +strangers. They are uncommonly intelligent, too, and are very teachable +when young. They are such beautiful creatures, besides being rare in +this part of the world, that it is altogether probable that they will be +much sought after as pets. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY + + +As far back as the ninth century, a poem on a cat was written, which has +come down to us from the Arabic. Its author was Ibn Alalaf Alnaharwany, +of Bagdad, who died in 318 A.H. or A.D. 930. He was one of the better +known poets of the khalifate, and his work may still be found in the +original. The following verses, which were translated by Dr. Carlyle, +are confessedly a paraphrase rather than a strict translation; but, of +course, the sense is the same. Commentators differ on the question as to +whether the poet really meant anything more in this poem than to sing of +the death of a pet, and some have tried to ascribe to it a hidden +meaning which implies beautiful slaves, lovers, and assignations; just +as the wise Browning student discovers meanings in that great poet's +works of which he never dreamed. Nevertheless, we who love cats are fain +to believe that this follower of Mahomet meant only to celebrate the +merits--perhaps it would hardly do to call them virtues--of his beloved +cat. + +The lines are inscribed,-- + + ON A CAT + + THAT WAS KILLED AS SHE WAS ATTEMPTING TO ROB A DOVE-HOUSE + + BY IBN ALALAF ALNAHARWANY + + + Poor Puss is gone!--'tis Fate's decree-- + Yet I must still her loss deplore; + For dearer than a child was she, + And ne'er shall I behold her more! + + With many a sad, presaging tear, + This morn I saw her steal away, + While she went on without a fear, + Except that she should miss her prey. + + I saw her to the dove-house climb, + With cautious feet and slow she stept, + Resolved to balance loss of time + By eating faster than she crept. + + Her subtle foes were on the watch, + And marked her course, with fury fraught; + And while she hoped the birds to catch, + An arrow's point the huntress caught. + + In fancy she had got them all, + And drunk their blood and sucked their breath; + Alas! she only got a fall, + And only drank the draught of death. + + Why, why was pigeon's flesh so nice, + That thoughtless cats should love it thus? + Hadst thou but lived on rats and mice, + Thou hadst been living still, poor Puss! + + Cursed be the taste, howe'er refined, + That prompts us for such joys to wish; + And cursed the dainty where we find + Destruction lurking in the dish. + + +Among the poets, Pussy has always found plenty of friends. Her feline +grace and softness has inspired some of the greatest, and, from Tasso +and Petrarch down, her quiet and dignified demeanor have been celebrated +in verse. Mr. Swinburne, within a few years, has written a charming poem +which was published in the _Athenaeum_, and which places the writer +among the select inner circle of true cat-lovers. He calls his verses-- + + TO A CAT + + Stately, kindly, lordly friend, + Condescend + Here to sit by me, and turn + Glorious eyes that smile and burn, + Golden eyes, love's lustrous meed, + On the golden page I read. + + * * * * * + + Dogs may fawn on all and some + As they come: + You a friend of loftier mind, + Answer friends alone in kind. + Just your foot upon my hand + Softly bids it understand. + + +Thomas Gray's poem on the death of Robert Walpole's cat, which was +drowned in a bowl of goldfish, was greatly prized by the latter; after +the death of the poet the bowl was placed on a pedestal at Strawberry +Hill, with a few lines from the poem as an inscription. In a letter +dated March 1, 1747, accompanying it, Mr. Gray says:-- + +"As one ought to be particularly careful to avoid blunders in a +compliment of condolence, it would be a sensible satisfaction to me +(before I testify my sorrow and the sincere part I take in your +misfortune) to know for certain who it is I lament. [Note the 'Who.'] I +knew Zara and Selima (Selima was it, or Fatima?), or rather I knew them +both together, for I cannot justly say which was which. Then, as to your +handsome cat, the name you distinguish her by, I am no less at a loss, +as well knowing one's handsome cat is always the cat one likes best; or +if one be alive and the other dead, it is usually the latter that is the +handsomest. Besides, if the point were never so clear, I hope you do not +think me so ill bred or so imprudent as to forfeit all my interest in +the survivor. Oh, no; I would rather seem to mistake and imagine, to be +sure, it must be the tabby one that had met with this sad accident. Till +this affair is a little better determined, you will excuse me if I do +not cry, 'Tempus inane peto, requiem, spatiumque doloris.'" + +He closes the letter by saying, "There's a poem for you; it is rather +too long for an epitaph." And then the familiar-- + + "'Twas on a lofty vase's side, + Where China's gayest art had dy'd + The azure flowers that blow: + Demurest of the tabby kind, + The pensive Selima, reclined, + Gazed on the lake below." + + +Wordsworth's "Kitten and the Falling Leaves," is in the high, moralizing +style. + + "That way look, my Infant, lo! + What a pretty baby show. + See the kitten on the wall, + Sporting with the leaves that fall, + + * * * * * + + "But the kitten, how she starts, + Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts + First at one and then its fellow, + Just as light and just as yellow: + There are many now--now one, + Now they stop, and there are none. + What intentness of desire + In her upward eye of fire! + With a tiger-leap halfway + Now she meets the coming prey, + Lets it go as fast, and then + Has it in her power again: + Now she works with three or four. + Like an Indian conjuror: + Quick as he in feats of art, + Far beyond in joy of heart. + Were her antics played in the eye + Of a thousand standers-by, + Clapping hands with shout and stare, + What would little Tabby care + For the plaudits of the crowd? + Over happy to be proud, + Over wealthy in the treasure + Of her own exceeding pleasure. + + * * * * * + + "Pleased by any random toy: + By a kitten's busy joy, + Or an infant's laughing eye + Sharing in the ecstacy: + I would fain like that or this + Find my wisdom in my bliss: + Keep the sprightly soul awake, + And have faculties to take, + Even from things by sorrow wrought, + Matter for a jocund thought, + Spite of care and spite of grief, + To gambol with life's falling leaf." + + +Cowper's love for animals was well known. At one time, according to Lady +Hesketh, he had besides two dogs, two goldfinches, and two canaries, +five rabbits, three hares, two guinea-pigs, a squirrel, a magpie, a jay, +and a starling. In addition he had, at least, one cat, for Lady Hesketh +says, "One evening the cat giving one of the hares a sound box on the +ear, the hare ran after her, and having caught her, punished her by +drumming on her back with her two feet hard as drumsticks, till the +creature would actually have been killed had not Mrs. Unwin rescued +her." It might have been this very cat that was the inspiration of +Cowper's poem, "To a Retired Cat," which had as a moral the familiar +stanza:-- + + "Beware of too sublime a sense + Of your own worth and consequence: + The man who dreams himself so great + And his importance of such weight, + That all around, in all that's done, + Must move and act for him alone, + Will learn in school of tribulation + The folly of his expectation." + + +Baudelaire wrote:-- + + "Come, beauty, rest upon my loving heart, + But cease thy paws' sharp-nailed play, + And let me peer into those eyes that dart + Mixed agate and metallic ray." + + * * * * * + + "Grave scholars and mad lovers all admire + And love, and each alike, at his full tide + Those suave and puissant cats, the fireside's pride, + Who like the sedentary life and glow of fire." + + +Goldsmith also wrote of the kitten:-- + + "Around in sympathetic mirth + Its tricks the kitten tries: + The cricket chirrups in the hearth, + The crackling fagot flies." + + +Does this not suggest a charming glimpse of the poet's English home? + +Keats was evidently not acquainted with the best and sleekest pet cat, +and his "Sonnet to a Cat" does not indicate that he fully appreciated +their higher qualities. + +Mr. Whittier, our good Quaker poet, while not attempting an elaborate +sonnet or stilted elegiac, shows a most appreciative spirit in the lines +he wrote for a little girl who asked him one day, with tears in her +eyes, to write an epitaph for her lost Bathsheba. + + "Bathsheba: To whom none ever said scat, + No worthier cat + Ever sat on a mat + Or caught a rat: + _Requies-cat_." + + +Clinton Scollard, however, has given us an epitaph that many +sympathizing admirers would gladly inscribe on the tombstones of their +lost pets, if it were only the popular fashion to put tombstones over +their graves. This is Mr. Scollard's tribute, the best ever written:-- + + GRIMALKIN + + AN ELEGY ON PETER, AGED TWELVE + + In vain the kindly call: in vain + The plate for which thou once wast fain + At morn and noon and daylight's wane, + O King of mousers. + No more I hear thee purr and purr + As in the frolic days that were, + When thou didst rub thy velvet fur + Against my trousers. + + How empty are the places where + Thou erst wert frankly debonair, + Nor dreamed a dream of feline care, + A capering kitten. + The sunny haunts where, grown a cat, + You pondered this, considered that, + The cushioned chair, the rug, the mat, + By firelight smitten. + + Although of few thou stoodst in dread, + How well thou knew a friendly tread, + And what upon thy back and head + The stroking hand meant. + A passing scent could keenly wake + Thy eagerness for chop or steak, + Yet, Puss, how rarely didst thou break + The eighth commandment. + + Though brief thy life, a little span + Of days compared with that of man, + The time allotted to thee ran + In smoother metre. + Now with the warm earth o'er thy breast, + O wisest of thy kind and best, + Forever mayst thou softly rest, + _In pace_, Peter. + + +One only has to read this poem to feel that Mr. Scollard knew what it is +to love a gentle, intelligent, affectionate cat--made so by kind +treatment. + +To François Coppée the cat is as sacred as it was to the Egyptians of +old. The society of his feline pets is to him ever delightful and +consoling, and it may have inspired him to write some of his most +melodious verses. Nevertheless he is not the cat's poet. It was Charles +Cros who wrote:-- + + "Chatte blanche, chatte sans tache, + Je te demande dans ces vers + Quel secret dort dans tes yeux verts, + Quel sarcasme sous ta moustache?" + + +Here is a version in verse of the famous "Kilkenny Cats":-- + + "O'Flynn, she was an Irishman, as very well was known, + And she lived down in Kilkenny, and she lived there all alone, + With only six great large tom-cats that knowed their ways about; + And everybody else besides she scrupulously shut out." + + "Oh, very fond of cats was she, and whiskey, too, 'tis said, + She didn't feed 'em very much, but she combed 'em well instead: + As may be guessed, these large tom-cats did not get very sleek + Upon a combing once a day and a 'haporth' once a week. + + "Now, on one dreary winter's night O'Flynn she went to bed + With a whiskey bottle under her arm, the whiskey in her head. + The six great large tom-cats they all sat in a dismal row, + And horridly glared their hazy eyes, their tails wagged to and fro. + + "At last one grim graymalkin spoke, in accents dire to tell, + And dreadful were the words which in his horrid whisper fell: + And all the six large tom-cats in answer loud did squall, + 'Let's kill her, and let's eat her, body, bones, and all.' + + "Oh, horrible! Oh, terrible! Oh, deadly tale to tell! + When the sun shone through the window-hole all seemed still and well: + The cats they sat and licked their paws all in a merry ring. + But nothing else in all the house looked like a living thing. + + "Anon they quarrelled savagely--they spit, they swore, they hollered: + At last these six great large tom-cats they one another swallered: + And naught but one long tail was left in that once peaceful dwelling, + And a very tough one, too, it was--it's the same that I've been telling." + + +By far more artistic is the version for which I am indebted to Miss +Katharine Eleanor Conway, herself a poet of high order and a lover of +cats. + +THE KILKENNY CATS + + There wanst was two cats in Kilkenny, + Aitch thought there was one cat too many; + So they quarrelled and fit, + They scratched and they bit, + Till, excepting their nails, + And the tips of their tails, + Instead of two cats, there wasn't any. + + +This version comes from Ireland, and is doubtless the correct original. + +"Note," says Miss Conway, "the more than Greek delicacy with which the +tragedy is told. No mutilation, no gore; just an effacement--prompt and +absolute--'there wasn't any.' It would be hard to overpraise that fine +touch." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS + + +While thousands of artists, first and last, have undertaken to paint +cats, there are but few who have been able to do them justice. Artists +who have possessed the technical skill requisite to such delicate work +have rarely been willing to give to what they have regarded as +unimportant subjects the necessary study; and those who have been +willing to study cats seriously have possessed but seldom the skill +requisite to paint them well. + +Thomas Janvier, whose judgment on such matters is unquestioned, declares +that not a dozen have succeeded in painting thoroughly good cat +portraits, portraits so true to nature as to satisfy--if they could +express their feelings in the premises--the cat subjects and their cat +friends. Only four painters, he says, ever painted cats habitually and +always well. + +Two members of this small but highly distinguished company flourished +about a century ago in widely separated parts of the world, and without +either of them knowing that the other existed. + +One was a Japanese artist, named Ho-Kou-Say, whose method of painting, +of course, was quite unlike that to which we are accustomed in this +western part of the world, but who had a wonderful faculty for making +his queer little cat figures seem intensely alive. + +The other was a Swiss artist, named Gottfried Mind, whose cat pictures +are so perfect in their way that he came to be honorably known as "the +Cat Raphael." + +The other two members of the cat quartet are the French artist, Monsieur +Louis Eugene Lambert, whose pictures are almost as well known in this +country as they are in France; and the Dutch artist, Madame Henriette +Ronner, whose delightful cat pictures are known even better, as she +catches the softer and sweeter graces of the cat more truly than +Lambert. + +A thoroughly good picture of a cat is hard to paint, from a technical +standpoint, because the artist must represent not only the soft surface +of fur, but the underlying hard lines of muscle: and his studies must be +made under conditions of cat perversity which are at times quite enough +to drive him wild. If he is to represent the cat in repose, he must wait +for her to take that position of her own accord; and then, just as his +sketch is well under way, she is liable to rise, stretch herself, and +walk off. If his picture is to represent action, he must wait for the +cat to do what he wants her to do, and that many times before he can be +quite sure that his drawing is correct. With these severe limitations +upon cat painting, it is not surprising that very few good pictures of +cats have been painted. + +Gottfried Mind has left innumerable pen sketches to prove his intimate +knowledge of the beauty and charm of the cat. He was born at Berne in +1768. He had a special taste for drawing animals even when very young, +bears and cats being his favorite subjects. As he grew older he obtained +a wonderful proficiency, and his cat pictures appeared with every +variety of expression. Their silky coats, their graceful attitudes, +their firm shape beneath the undulating fur, were treated so as to make +Mind's cats seem alive. + +It was Madame Lebrun who named him the "Raphael of Cats," and many a +royal personage bought his pictures. He, like most cat painters, kept +his cats constantly with him, knowing that only by persistent and never +tiring study could he ever hope to master their infinite variety. His +favorite mother cat kept closely at his side when he worked, or perhaps +in his lap; while her kittens ran over him as fearlessly as they played +with their mother's tail. When a terrible epidemic broke out among the +cats of Berne in 1809, he hid his Minette safely from the police, but he +never quite recovered from the horror of the massacre of the eight +hundred that had to be sacrificed for the general safety of the people. +He died in 1814, and in poverty, although a few years afterward his +pictures brought extravagant prices. + +Burbank, the English painter, has done some good things in cat pictures. +The expression of the face and the peculiar light in the cat's eye made +up the realism of Burbank's pictures, which were reproductions of sleek +and handsome drawing-room pets, whose shining coats he brings out with +remarkable precision. + +The ill-fated Swiss artist Cornelius Wisscher's marvellous tom-cat has +become typical. + +Delacroix, the painter of tigers, was a man of highly nervous +temperament, but his cat sketches bring out too strongly the tigerish +element to be altogether successful. + +Louis Eugene Lambert was a pupil of Delacroix. He was born in Paris, +September 25, 1825, and the chief event of his youth was, perhaps, the +great friendship which existed between him and Maurice Sands. Entomology +was a fad with him for a time, but he finally took up his serious +life-work in 1854, when he began illustrating for the _Journal of +Agriculture_. In connection with his work, he began to study animals +carefully, making dogs his specialty. In 1862 he illustrated an edition +of La Fontaine, and in 1865 he obtained his first medal for a painting +of dogs. In 1866 his painting of cats, "L'Horloge qui avance," won +another medal, and brought his first fame as a cat painter. In 1874 he +was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. His "Envoi" in 1874, "Les +Chats du Cardinal," and "Grandeur Decline" brought more medals. Although +he has painted hosts of excellent dog pictures, cats are his favorites, +on account, as he says, of "les formes fines et gracieux; mouvements, +souple et subtil." + +In the Luxembourg Gallery, Mr. Lambert's "Family of Cats" is considered +one of the finest cat pictures in the world. In this painting the mother +sits upon a table watching the antics of her four frivolous kittens. +There is a wonderful smoothness of touch and refinement of treatment +that have never yet been excelled. "After the Banquet" is another +excellent example of the same smoothness of execution, with fulness of +action instead of repose. And yet there is an undeniable lack of the +softer attributes which should be evident in the faces of the group. + +It is here that Madame Ronner excels all other cat painters, living or +dead. She not only infuses a wonderful degree of life into her little +figures, but reproduces the shades of expression, shifting and variable +as the sands of the sea, as no other artist of the brush has done. +Asleep or awake, her cats look exactly to the "felinarian" like cats +with whom he or she is familiar. Curiosity, drowsiness, indifference, +alertness, love, hate, anxiety, temper, innocence, cunning, fear, +confidence, mischief, earnestness, dignity, helplessness,--they are all +in Madame Ronner's cats' faces, just as we see them in our own cats. + +Madame Ronner is the daughter of Josephus Augustus Knip, a landscape +painter of some celebrity sixty years ago, and from her father she +received her first art education. She is now over seventy years old, and +for nearly fifty years has made her home in Brussels. There, she and her +happy cats, a big black Newfoundland dog named Priam, with a pert +cockatoo named Coco, dwell together in a roomy house in its own grounds, +back a little from the Charleroi Road. Madame Ronner has a good son to +care for her, and she loves the animals, who are both her servants and +her friends. Every day she spends three good hours of the morning in her +studio, painting her delightful cat pictures with the energy of a young +artist and the expert precision which we know so well. She was sixteen +when she succeeded in painting a picture which was accepted and sold at +a public exhibition at Dusseldorf. This was a study of a cat seated in a +window and examining with great curiosity a bumblebee; while it would +not compare with her later work, there must have been good quality in +it, or it would not have got into a Dusseldorf picture exhibition at +all. At any rate, it was the beginning of her successful career as an +artist. From that time she managed to support herself and her father by +painting pictures of animals. For many years, however, she confined +herself to painting dogs. Her most famous picture, "The Friend of Man," +belongs to this period--a pathetic group composed of a sorrowing old +sand-seller looking down upon a dying dog still harnessed to the little +sand-wagon, with the two other dogs standing by with wistful looks of +sympathy. When this picture was exhibited, in 1860, Madame Ronner's fame +was established permanently. + +But it so happened that in the same year a friendly kitten came to live +in her home, wandering in through the open doorway from no one knew +where, and deciding, after sniffing about the place in cat fashion, to +remain there for the remainder of its days. And it also happened that +Madame Ronner was lured by this small stranger, who so coolly quartered +himself upon her, to change the whole current of her artistic life, and +to paint cats instead of dogs. Of course, this change could not be made +in a moment; but after that the pictures which she painted to please +herself were cat pictures, and as these were exhibited and her +reputation as a cat painter became established, cat orders took the +place of dog orders more and more, until at last her time was given +wholly to cat painting. Her success in painting cat action has been due +as much to her tireless patience as to her skill; a patience that gave +her strength to spend hours upon hours in carefully watching the quick +movements of the lithe little creatures, and in correcting again and +again her rapidly made sketches. + +Every cat-lover knows that a cat cannot be induced, either by reason or +by affection, to act in accordance with any wishes save its own. Also +that cats find malicious amusement in doing what they know they are not +wanted to do, and that with an affectation of innocence that materially +aggravates their deliberate offence. + +But Madame Ronner, through her long experience, has evolved a way to get +them to pose as models. Her plan is the simple one of keeping her models +prisoners in a glass box, enclosed in a wire cage, while she is painting +them. Inside the prison she cannot always command their actions, but her +knowledge of cat character enables her to a certain extent to persuade +them to take the pose which she requires. By placing a comfortable +cushion in the cage she can tempt her model to lie down; some object of +great interest, like a live mouse, for instance, exhibited just outside +the cage is sure to create the eager look that she has shown so well on +cat faces; and to induce her kittens to indulge in the leaps and bounds +which she has succeeded so wonderfully in transferring to canvas, she +keeps hanging from the top of the cage a most seductive "bob." + +Madame Ronner's favorite models are "Jem" and "Monmouth," cats of rare +sweetness of temper, whose conduct in all relations of life is above +reproach. The name of "Monmouth," as many will recall, was made famous +by the hero of Monsieur La Bedolierre's classic, "Mother Michel and her +Cat," [Footnote: Translated into English by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.] and +therefore has clustering about it traditions so glorious that its wearers +in modern times must be upheld always by lofty hopes and high resolves. +Doubtless Monmouth Ronner feels the responsibility entailed upon him by +his name. + +In the European galleries are several noted paintings in which the cat +appears more or less unsuccessfully. Breughel and Teniers made their +grotesque "Cat Concerts" famous, but one can scarcely see why, since the +drawing is poor and there is no real insight into cat character evident. +The sleeping cat, in Breughel's "Paradise Lost" in the Louvre, is +better, being well drawn, but so small as to leave no chance for +expression. Lebrun's "Sleep of the Infant Jesus," in the Louvre, has a +slumbering cat under the stove, and in Barocci's "La Madonna del Gatto" +the cat is the centre of interest. Holman Hunt's "The Awakening +Conscience" and Murillo's Holy Family "del Pajarito" give the cat as a +type of cruelty, but have failed egregiously in accuracy of form or +expression. Paul Veronese's cat in "The Marriage at Cana" is fearfully +and wonderfully made, and even Rembrandt failed when he tried to +introduce a cat into his pictures. + +Rosa Bonheur has been wise enough not to attempt cat pictures, knowing +that special study, for which she had not the time or the inclination, +is necessary to fit an artist to excel with the feline character. +Landseer, too, after trying twice, once in 1819 with "The Cat Disturbed" +and once in 1824 with "The Cat's Paw," gave up all attempts at dealing +with Grimalkin. Indeed, most artists who have attempted it, have found +that to be a wholly successful cat artist such whole-hearted devotion to +the subject as Madame Ronner's is the invariable price of distinction. + +Of late, however, more artists are found who are willing to pay this +price, who are giving time and study not only to the subtle shadings of +the delicate fur, but to the varying facial expression and sinuous +movements of the cat. Margaret Stocks, of Munich, for example, is +rapidly coming to the front as a cat painter, and some predict for her +(she is still a young woman) a future equal to Madame Ronner's. Gambier +Bolton's "Day Dreams" shows admirably the quality and "tumbled-ness" of +an Angora kitten's fur, while the expression and drawing are equally +good. Miss Cecilia Beaux's "Brighton Cats" is famous, and every student +of cats recognizes its truthfulness at once. + +Angora and Persian kittens find another loving and faithful student in +J. Adam, whose paintings have been photographed and reproduced in this +country times without number. "Puss in Boots" is another foreign picture +which has been photographed and sold extensively in this country. +"Little Milksop" by the same artist, Mr. Frank Paton, gives fairly +faithful drawing and expression of two kittens who have broken a milk +pitcher and are eagerly lapping up the contents. + +In the Munich Gallery there is a painting by Claus Meyer, "Bose Zungen," +which has become quite noted. His three old cats and three young cats +show three gossiping old crones by the side of whom are three small and +awkward kittens. + +Of course, there are no artists whose painting of the cat is to be +compared with Madame Ronner's. Mr. J.L. Dolph, of New York City, has +painted hundreds of cat pieces which have found a ready sale, and Mr. +Sid L. Brackett, of Boston, is doing very creditable work. A successful +cat painter of the younger school is Mr. N.N. Bickford, of New York, +whose "Peek-a-Boo" hangs in a Chicago gallery side by side with cats of +Madame Ronner and Monsieur Lambert. "Miss Kitty's Birthday" shows that +he has genuine understanding of cat character, and is mastering the +subtleties of long white fur. + +Mr. Bickford is a pupil of Jules Lefèbvre Boulanger and Miralles. It was +by chance that he became a painter of cats. Mademoiselle Marie Engle, +the prima-donna, owned a beautiful white Angora cat which she prized +very highly, and as her engagements abroad compelled her to part with +the cat for a short time, she left Mizzi with the artist until her +return. One day Mr. Bickford thought he would try painting the white, +silken fur of Mizzi: the result not only surprised him but also his +artist friends, who said, "Lambert himself could not have done better." + +Upon Miss Engle's return, seeing what an inspiration her cat had been, +she gave her to Mr. Bickford, and it is needless to add that he has +become deeply attached to his beautiful model. Mizzi is a pure white +Angora, with beautiful blue eyes, and silky fur. She won first prize at +the National Cat Show of 1895, but no longer attends cat shows, on +account of her engagements as professional model. + +Ben Austrian, who has made a success in painting other animals, has done +a cat picture of considerable merit. The subject was Tix, a beautiful +tiger-gray, belonging to Mr. Mahlon W. Newton, of Philadelphia. The cat +is noted, not only in Philadelphia, but among travelling men, as he +resides at a hotel, and is quite a prominent member of the office force. +He weighs fifteen pounds and is of a very affectionate nature, following +his master to the park and about the establishment like a dog. During +the day he lives in the office, lying on the counter or the key-rack, +but at night he retires with his master at eleven or twelve o'clock, +sleeping in his own basket in the bathroom, and waking his master +promptly at seven every morning. Tix's picture hangs in the office of +his hotel, and is becoming as famous as the cat. + +Elizabeth Bonsall is a young American artist who has exhibited some good +cat pictures, and whose work promises to make her famous some day, if +she does not "weary in well-doing"; and Mr. Jean Paul Selinger's +"Kittens" are quite well known. + +The good cat illustrator is even more rare than the cat painters. +Thousands of readers recall those wonderfully lifelike cats and kittens +which were a feature of the _St. Nicholas_ a few years ago, +accompanied by "nonsense rhymes" or "jingles." They were the work of +Joseph G. Francis, of Brookline, Mass., and brought him no little fame. +He was, and is still, a broker on State Street, Boston, and in his busy +life these inimitable cat sketches were but an incident. Mr. Francis is +a devoted admirer of all cats, and had for many years loved and studied +one cat in particular. It was by accident that he discovered his own +possibilities in the line of cat drawing, as he began making little +pen-and-ink sketches for his own amusement and then for that of his +friends. The latter persuaded him to send some of these drawings to the +_St. Nicholas_ and the _Wide-Awake_ magazines, and, rather to +his surprise, they were promptly accepted, and the "Francis cats" became +famous. Mr. Francis does but little artistic work, nowadays, more +important business keeping him well occupied; besides, he says, he "is +not in the mood for it." + +Who does not know Louis Wain's cats?--that prince of English +illustrators. Mr. Wain's home, when not in London, is at Bendigo Lodge, +Westgate, Kent. He began his artistic career at nineteen, after a +training in the best London schools. He was not a hard worker over his +books, but his fondness for nature led him to an artist's career. +American Indian stories were his delight, and accounts of the wandering +outdoor life of our aborigines were instrumental in developing his +powers of observation regarding the details of nature. Always fond of +dumb animals, he began life by making sketches for sporting papers at +agricultural shows all over England. It was his own cat "Peter" who +first suggested to Louis Wain the fanciful cat creations which have made +his name famous. Watching Peter's antics one evening, he was tempted to +do a small study of kittens, which was promptly accepted by a magazine +editor in London. Then he trained Peter to become a model and the +starting-point of his success. Peter has done more to wipe out of +England the contempt in which the cat was formerly held there, than any +other feline in the world. He has done his race a service in raising +their status from neglected, forlorn creatures on the one hand, or the +pampered, overfed object of old maids' affections on the other, to a +dignified place in the English house. + +The double-page picture of the "Cat's Christmas Dance" in the _London +Illustrated News_ of December 6, 1890, contains a hundred and fifty +cats, with as many varying facial expressions and attitudes. It occupied +eleven working days of Mr. Wain's time, but it caught the public fancy +and made a tremendous hit all over the world. Louis Wain's cats +immediately became famous, and he has had more orders than he can fill +ever since. He works eight hours a day, and then lays aside his brush to +study physical science, or write a humorous story. He has written and +illustrated a comic book, and spent a great deal of time over a more +serious one. + +Among the best known of his cat pictures, after the "Christmas Party," +is his "Cats' Rights Meeting," which not even the most ardent suffragist +can study without laughter. From a desk an ardent tabby is expounding, +loud and long, on the rights of her kind. In front of her is a double +row of felines, sitting with folded arms, and listening with absorbed +attention. The expressions of these cats' faces, some ardent, some +indignant, some placid, but all interested, form a ridiculous contrast +to a row of "Toms" in the rear, who evidently disagree with the +lecturer, and are prepared to hiss at her more "advanced" ideas. +"Returning Thanks" is nearly as amusing, with its thirteen cats seated +at table over their wine, while one offers thanks, and the remainder +wear varying expressions of devotion, indifference, or irreverence. +"Bringing Home the Yule Log" gives twenty-one cats, and as many +individual expressions of joy or discomfort; and the "Snowball Match" +shows a scene almost as hilarious as the "Christmas Dance." + +Mr. Wain believes there is a great future for black and white work if a +man is careful to keep abreast of the times. "A man should first of all +create his public and draw upon his own fund of originality to sustain +it," he says, "taking care not to pander to the degenerate tendencies +which would prevent his work from elevating the finer instincts of the +people." Says a recent visitor to the Wain household: "I wonder if Peter +realizes that he has done more good than most human beings, who are +endowed not only with sense but with brains? if in the firelight, he +sees the faces of many a suffering child whose hours of pain have been +shortened by the recital of his tricks, and the pictures of himself +arrayed in white cravat, or gayly disporting himself on a 'see-saw'? I +feel inclined to wake him up, and whisper how, one cold winter's night, +I met a party of five little children, hatless and bootless, hurrying +along an East-end slum, and saying encouragingly to the youngest, who +was crying with cold and hunger, 'Come along: we'll get there soon.' I +followed them down the lighted street till they paused in front of a +barber's shop, and I heard their voices change to a shout of merriment: +for in the window was a crumpled Christmas supplement, and Peter, in a +frolicsome mood, was represented entertaining at a large cats' +tea-party. Hunger, and cold, and misery were all dispelled. Who would +not be a cat of Louis Wain's, capable of creating ten minutes' sunshine +in a childish heart?" + +Mr. Wain announces a discovery in relation to cats which corroborates a +theory of my own, adopted from long observation and experience. + +"I have found," he says, "as a result of many years of inquiry and +study, that people who keep cats and are in the habit of petting them, +do not suffer from those petty ailments which all flesh is heir to. +Rheumatism and nervous complaints are uncommon with them, and Pussy's +lovers are of the sweetest temperament. I have often felt the benefit, +after a long spell of mental effort, of having my cats sitting across my +shoulders, or of half an hour's chat with Peter." + +This is a frequent experience of my own. Nothing is more restful and +soothing after a busy day than sitting with my hands buried in the soft +sides of one of my cats. + +"Do you know," said one of my neighbors, recently, "when I am troubled +with insomnia, lately, I get up and get Bingo from his bed, and take him +to mine. I can go to sleep with my hands on him." + +There is a powerful magnetic influence which emanates from a sleepy or +even a quiet cat, that many an invalid has experienced without realizing +it. If physicians were to investigate this feature of the cat's +electrical and magnetic influence, in place of anatomical research after +death, or the horrible practice of vivisection, they might be doing a +real service to humanity. + +Mr. Wain's success as an illustrator brought him great prominence in the +National Cat Club of England, and he has been for a number of years its +president, doing much to raise the condition and quality of cats and the +status of the club. He has a number of beautiful and high-bred cats at +Bendigo Lodge. + +With regard to the painting of cats Champfleury said, "The lines are so +delicate, the eyes are distinguished by such remarkable qualities, the +movements are due to such sudden impulses, that to succeed in the +portrayal of such a subject, one must be feline one's self." And Mr. +Spielman gives the following advice to those who would paint cats:-- + +"You must love them, as Mahomet and Chesterfield loved them: be as fond +of their company as Wolsley and Richelieu, Mazarin and Colbert, who +retained them even during their most impressive audiences: as Petrarch, +and Dr. Johnson, and Canon Liddon, and Ludovic Halévy, who wrote with +them at their elbow: and Tasso and Gray, who celebrated them in verse: +as sympathetic as Carlyle, whom Mrs. Allingham painted in the company of +his beloved 'Tib' in the garden at Chelsea, or as Whittington, the hero +of our milk-and-water days: think of El Daher Beybars, who fed all +feline comers, or 'La Belle Stewart,' Duchess of Richmond, who, in the +words of the poet, 'endowed a college' for her little friends: you must +be as approbative of their character, their amenableness to education, +their inconstancy, not to say indifference and their general lack of +principle, as Madame de Custine: and as appreciative of their daintiness +and grace as Alfred de Musset. Then, and not till then, can you consider +yourself sentimentally equipped for studying the art of cat painting." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES + + +At comparatively frequent intervals we read of some woman, historic or +modern, who has left an annuity (as the Duchess of Richmond, "La Belle +Stewart") for the care of her pet cats; now and then a man provides for +them in his will, as Lord Chesterfield, for instance, who left a +permanent pension for his cats and their descendants. But I find only +one who has endowed a home for them and given it sufficient means to +support the strays and waifs who reach its shelter. + +Early in the eighties, Captain Nathan Appleton, of Boston (a brother of +the poet Longfellow's wife, and of Thomas Appleton, the celebrated wit), +returned from a stay in London with a new idea, that of founding some +sort of a refuge, or hospital, for sick or stray cats and dogs. He had +visited Battersea, and been deeply impressed with the need of a shelter +for small and friendless domestic animals. + +At Battersea there is an institution similar to the one the Society for +Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York have at East 120th Street, +where stray animals may be sent and kept for a few days awaiting the +possible appearance of a claimant or owner; at the end of which time the +animals are placed in the "lethal chamber," where they die instantly and +painlessly by asphyxiation. In Boston, the Society of Prevention of +Cruelty to Animals have no such refuge or pound, but in place of it keep +one or two men whose business it is to go wherever sent and "mercifully +put to death" the superfluous, maimed, or sick animals that shall be +given them. + +Captain Appleton's idea, however, was something entirely different from +this. These creatures, he argued, have a right to their lives and the +pursuit of happiness after their own fashion, and he proposed to help +them to enjoy that right. He appealed to a few sympathetic friends and +gave two or three acres of land from his own estate, near "Nonantum +Hill," where the Apostle Eliot preached to the Indians, and where his +iodine springs are located. He had raised a thousand or two dollars and +planned a structure of some kind to shelter stray dogs and cats, when +the good angel that attends our household pets guided him to the lawyer +who had charge of the estates of Miss Ellen M. Gifford, of New Haven, +Ct. "I think I can help you," said the lawyer. But he would say nothing +more at that time. A few weeks later, Captain Appleton was sent for. +Miss Gifford had become deeply interested in the project, and after +making more inquiries, gave the proposed home some twenty-five thousand +dollars, adding to this amount afterward and providing for the +institution in her will. It has already had over one hundred thousand +dollars from Miss Gifford's estates, and it is so well endowed and well +managed that it is self-supporting. + +The Ellen M. Gifford Sheltering Home for Animals is situated near the +Brookline edge of the Brighton district in Boston. In fact, the +residential portion of aristocratic Brookline is so fast creeping up to +it that the whole six acres of the institution will doubtless soon be +disposed of at a very handsome profit, while the dogs and cats will +retire to a more remote district to "live on the interest of their +money." + +The main building is a small but handsome brick affair, facing on Lake +Street. This is the home of the superintendent, and contains, besides, +the offices of the establishment. Over the office is a tablet with this +inscription, taken from a letter of Miss Gifford's about the time the +home was opened:-- + +"If only the waifs, the strays, the sick, the abused, would be sure to +get entrance to the home, and anybody could feel at liberty to bring in +a starved or ill-treated animal and have it cared for without pay, my +object would be obtained. March 27, 1884." + +The superintendent is a lover of animals as well as a good business +manager, and his work is in line with the sentence just quoted. Any one +wanting a cat or a dog, and who can promise it a good home, may apply +there. But Mr. Perkins does not take the word of a stranger at random. +He investigates their circumstances and character, and never gives away +an animal unless he can be reasonably sure of its going to a good home. +For instance, he once received an application from one man for six cats. +The wholesale element in the order made him slightly suspicious, and he +immediately drove to Boston, where he found that his would-be customer +owned a big granary overrun with mice. He sent the six cats, and two +weeks later went to see how they were getting on, when he found them +living happily in a big grain-loft, fat and contented as the most +devoted Sultan of Egypt could have asked. None but street cats and stray +dogs, homeless waifs, ill-treated and half starved, are received at this +home. Occasionally, some family desiring to get rid of the animal they +have petted for months, perhaps years, will send it over to the +Sheltering Home. But if Mr. Perkins can find where it came from he +promptly returns it, for even this place, capable of comfortably housing +a hundred cats and as many dogs, cannot accommodate all the unfortunates +that are picked up in the streets of Boston. The accommodations, too, +while they are comfortable and even luxurious for the poor creatures +that have hitherto slept on ash-barrels and stone flaggings, are unfit +for household pets that have slept on cushions, soft rugs, and milady's +bed. + +There is a dog-house and a cat-house, sufficiently far apart that the +occupants of one need not be disturbed by those of the other. In the +dog-house there are rows of pens on each side of the middle aisle, in +which from one to four or five dogs, according to size, are kept when +indoors. These are of all sorts, colors, dispositions, and sizes, +ranging from pugs to St. Bernards, terriers to mastiffs. There are few +purely bred dogs, although there are many intelligent and really +handsome ones. The dogs are allowed to run in the big yard that opens +out from their house at certain hours of the day; but the cats' yards +are open to them all day and night. All yards and runs are enclosed with +wire netting, and the cat-house has partitions of the same. All around +the sides of the cat-house are shelves or bunks, which are kept supplied +with clean hay, for their beds. Here one may see cats of every color and +assorted sizes, contentedly curled up in their nests, while their +companions sit blinking in the sun, or run out in the yards. Cooked +meat, crackers and milk, and dishes of fresh water are kept where they +can get at them. The cats all look plump and well fed, and, indeed, the +ordinary street cat must feel that his lines have fallen in pleasant +places. + +Not so, however, with pet cats who may be housed there. They miss the +companionship of people, and the household belongings to which they have +been accustomed. Sometimes it is really pathetic to see one of these +cast-off pets climb up the wire netting and plainly beg the visitor to +take him away from that strange place, and give him such a home as he +has been used to. In the superintendent's house there is usually a good +cat or two of this sort, as he is apt to test a well-bred cat before +giving him away. + +Somewhat similar, and even older than the Ellen Gifford Sheltering Home, +is the Morris Refuge of Philadelphia. This institution, whose motto is +"The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his +works," was first established in May, 1874, by Miss Elizabeth Morris and +other ladies who took an interest in the protection of suffering +animals. It does not limit its tender mercies to cats and dogs, but +cares for every suffering animal. It differs from the Ellen Gifford Home +chiefly in the fact that, while the latter is a _home_ for stray +cats and dogs, the Morris Refuge has for its object the care for and +disposal of suffering animals of all sorts. In a word, it brings relief +to most of these unfortunate creatures by means of a swift and painless +death. + +It was first known as the City Refuge, although it was never maintained +by the city. In January, 1889, it was reorganized and incorporated as +the "Morris Refuge for Homeless and Suffering Animals." It is supported +by private contributions, and is under the supervision of Miss Morris +and a corps of kind-hearted ladies of Philadelphia. A wagon is kept at +the home to respond to calls, and visits any residence where suffering +animals may need attention. The agent of the society lives at the refuge +with his family, and receives animals at any time. When notice is +received of an animal hurt or suffering, he sends after it. Chloroform +is invariably taken along, in order that, if expedient, the creature may +be put out of its agony at once. This refuge is at 1242 Lombard Street, +and there is a temporary home where dogs are boarded at 923 South 11th +Street. + +In 1895, out of 23,067 animals coming under the care of the association, +19,672 were cats. In 1896, there were 24,037 animals relieved and +disposed of, while the superintendent answered 230 police calls. Good +homes are found for both dogs and cats, but not until the agent is sure +that they will be kindly treated. + +In Miss Morris's eighth annual report she says: "Looking back to the +formation of the first society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, +we find since that time a gradual awakening to the duties man owes to +those below him in the scale of animal creation. The titles of those +societies and their objects, as defined by their charters, show that at +first it was considered sufficient to protect animals from cruel +treatment: very few people gave thought to the care of those that were +without homes. Now many are beginning to think of the evil of being +overrun with numbers of homeless creatures, whose sufferings appeal to +the sympathies of the humane, and whose noise and depredations provoke +the cruelty of the hard-hearted: hence the efforts that are being made +in different cities to establish refuges. A request has lately been +received from Montreal asking for our reports, as it is proposed to +found a home for animals in that city, and information is being +collected in relation to such institutions." + +Lady Marcus Beresford has succeeded in establishing and endowing a home +for cats in Englefield Green, Windsor Park. She has made a specialty of +Angoras, and her collection is famous. Queen Victoria and her daughters +take a deep interest, not alone in finely bred cats, but in poor and +homeless waifs as well. Her Royal Highness, in fact, took pains to write +the London S.P.C.A. some years ago, saying she would be very glad to +have them do something for the safety and protection of cats, "_which +are so generally misunderstood and grossly ill-treated_." She herself +sets a good example in this respect, and when her courts remove from one +royal residence to another, her cats are taken with her. + +There is a movement in Paris, too, to provide for sick and homeless cats +as well as dogs. Two English ladies have founded a hospital near +Asnières, where ailing pets can be tended in illness, or boarded for +about ten cents a day; and very well cared for their pensioners are. +There is also a charity ward where pauper patients are received and +tended carefully, and afterward sold or given away to reliable people. +Oddly, this sort of charity was begun by Mademoiselle Claude Bernard, +the daughter of the great scientist who, it is said, tortured more +living creatures to death than any other. Vivisection became a passion +with him, but Mademoiselle Bernard is atoning for her father's cruelty +by a singular devotion to animals, and none are turned from her gates. + +This is the way they do it in Cairo even now, according to Monsieur +Prisse d'Avennes, the distinguished Egyptologist:-- + +"The Sultan, El Daher Beybars, who reigned in Egypt and Syria toward 658 +of the Hegira (1260 A.D.) and is compared by William of Tripoli to Nero +in wickedness, and to Caesar in bravery, had a peculiar affection for +cats. At his death, he left a garden, 'Gheyt-el-Quoltah' (the cats' +orchard), situated near his mosque outside Cairo, for the support of +homeless cats. Subsequently the field was sold and resold several times +by the administrator and purchasers. In consequence of a series of +dilapidations it now produces a nominal rent of fifteen piastres a year, +which with certain other legacies is appropriated to the maintenance of +cats. The Kadi, who is the official administrator of all pious and +charitable bequests, ordains that at the hour of afternoon prayer, +between noon and sunset, a daily distribution of animals' entrails and +refuse meat from the butchers' stalls, chopped up together, shall be +made to the cats of the neighborhood. This takes place in the outer +court of the 'Mehkemeh,' or tribunal, and a curious spectacle may then +be seen. At this hour all the terraces near the Mehkemeh are crowded +with cats: they come jumping from house to house across the narrow Cairo +streets, hurrying for their share: they slide down walls and glide into +the court, where they dispute, with great tenacity and much growling, +the scanty meal so sadly out of proportion to the number of guests. The +old ones clear the food in a moment: the young ones and the newcomers, +too timid to fight for their chance, must content themselves with +licking the ground. Those wanting to get rid of cats take them there and +deposit them. I have seen whole baskets of kittens deposited in the +court, greatly to the annoyance of the neighbors." + +There are similar customs in Italy and Switzerland. In Geneva cats prowl +about the streets like dogs at Constantinople. The people charge +themselves with their maintenance, and feed the cats who come to their +doors at the same hour every day for their meals. + +In Florence, a cloister near St. Lorenzo's Church serves as a refuge for +cats. It is an ancient and curious institution, but I am unable to find +whether it is maintained by the city or by private charities. There are +specimens of all colors, sizes, and kinds, and any one who wants a cat +has but to go there and ask for it. On the other hand, the owner of a +cat who is unable or unwilling to keep it may take it there, where it is +fed and well treated. + +In Rome, they have a commendable system of caring for their cats. At a +certain hour butchers' men drive through the city, with carts well +stocked with cat's meat. They utter a peculiar cry which the cats +recognize, and come hurrying out of the houses for their allowances, +which are paid for by the owners at a certain rate per month. + +In Boston, during the summer of 1895, a firm of butchers took +subscriptions from philanthropic citizens, and raised enough to defray +the expenses of feeding the cats on the Back Bay,--where, in spite of +the fact that the citizens are all wealthy and supposedly humane, there +are more starving cats than elsewhere in the city. But the experiment +has not been repeated. + +Hospitals for sick animals are no new thing, but a really comfortable +home for cats is an enterprise in which many a woman who now asks +despondently what she can do in this overcrowded world to earn a living, +might find pleasant and profitable. + +A most worthy charity is that of the Animal Rescue League in Boston, +which was started by Mrs. Anna Harris Smith in 1899. She put a call in +the newspapers, asking those who were interested in the subject to +attend a meeting and form a league for the protection and care of lost +or deserted pets. The response was immediate and generous. The Animal +Rescue League was formed with several hundred members, and in a short +time the house at 68 Carver Street was rented, and a man and his wife +put in charge. Here are brought both cats and dogs from all parts of +Boston and the suburbs, where they are sure of kind treatment and care. +If they are diseased they are immediately put out of existence by means +of the lethal chamber; otherwise they are kept for a few days in order +that they may be claimed by their owners if lost, or have homes found +for them whenever it is possible. During the first year over two +thousand cats were cared for, and several hundred dogs. This home is +maintained by voluntary contributions and by the annual dues of +subscribers. These are one dollar a year for associate members and five +dollars for active members. It is an excellent charity, and one that may +well be emulated in other cities. + +There are several cat asylums and refuges in the Far West, and certainly +a few more such institutions as the Sheltering Home at Brighton, Mass., +or the Morris Refuge would be a credit to a country. How better than by +applying it to our cats can we demonstrate the truth of Solomon's maxim, +"A merciful man is merciful to his beast"? + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS + + +If any of my readers hunger and thirst for information concerning the +descent of the cat through marsupial ancestors and mesozoic mammals to +the generalized placental or monodelphous carnivora of to-day, let them +consult St. George Mivart, who gives altogether the most comprehensive +and exhaustive scientific study to the cat ever published, and whose +book on the cat is an excellent work for the earnest beginner in the +study of biological science. He says no more complete example can be +found of a perfectly organized living being than that supplied by the +highest mammalian family--_Felidae_. + +"On the whole," he sums up, "it seems probable that the mammalia, and +therefore the cat, descends from some highly developed, somewhat +reptile-like batrachian of which no trace has been found." + +Away back in the eighth century of the Hegira, an Arab naturalist gives +this account of the creation of the cat: "When, as the Arab relates, +Noah made a couple of each animal to enter the ark, his companions and +family asked, 'What security can you give us and the other animals, so +long as the lion dwells with us on this narrow vessel?' Then Noah betook +himself to prayer, and entreated the Lord God. Immediately fever came +down from heaven and seized upon the king of beasts." This was the +origin of fever. But constituents in Noah's time, as now, were +ungrateful; and no sooner was the lion disposed of, than the mouse was +discovered to be an object of suspicion. They complained that there +would be no safety for provisions or clothing. "And so Noah renewed his +supplication to the Most High, the lion sneezed, and a cat ran out of +his nostrils. From that time the mouse has been timid and has hidden in +holes." + +In the Egyptian gallery of the British Museum there is an excellent +painting of a tabby cat assisting a man to capture birds. Hieroglyphic +inscriptions as far back as 1684 B.C. mention the cat, and there is at +Leyden a tablet of the eighteenth or nineteenth dynasty with a cat +seated under a chair. A temple at Beni-Hassan is dedicated to Pasht or +Bubastis, the goddess of cats, which is as old as Thothmes IV of the +eighteenth dynasty, 1500 B.C.; and the cat appears in written rituals of +that dynasty. Herodotus tells of the almost superstitious reverence +which dwellers along the Nile felt for the cat, and gravely states that +when one died a natural death in any house, the inmates shaved their +eyebrows as a token of grief; also, that in case of a fire the first +thing they saved was the household cat. Fortunate pussies! + +It is thought that cats were introduced into Greece from Egypt, although +Professor Rolleston, of Cambridge University, believes the Grecian pet +cat to have been the white-breasted marten. Yet why should he? Is not a +soft, white-breasted maltese or tabby as attractive? The idea that cats +were domesticated in Western Europe by the Crusaders is thought to be +erroneous; but pet cats were often found in nunneries in the Middle +Ages, and Pope Gregory the Great, toward the end of the sixth century, +had a pet cat of which he was very fond. + +An old writer says, "A favorite cat sometimes accompanied the Egyptians +on these occasions [of sport], and the artist of that day intends to +show us by the exactness with which he represents her seizing her prey, +that cats were trained to hunt and carry water-fowl." There are old +Egyptian paintings representing sporting scenes along the Nile, where +the cats plunge into the water of the marshes to retrieve and carry +game; while plenty of mural paintings show them sitting under the +arm-chair of the mistress of the house. Modern naturalists, however, +claim a radical difference between those old Egyptian retrieving cats +and our water-hating pussies. There are no records of cats between that +period in Egypt, about 1630 B.C., and 260 B.C., when they seem to have +become acclimated in Greece and Rome. There is in the Bordeaux Museum an +ancient picture of a young girl holding a cat, on a tomb of the +Gallo-Roman Epoch, and cats appeared in the heraldry of that date; but +writers of those ages speak rather slightingly of them. Then for +centuries the cat was looked upon as a diabolic creature, fit company +for witches. + +"Why," says Balthazar Bekker in the seventeenth century, "is a cat +always found among the belongings of witches, when according to the +Sacred Book, and Apocalypse in particular, it is the dog, not a feline +animal, that consorts with the sorcerers?" + +In Russia even yet the common people believe that black cats become +devils at the end of seven years, and in many parts of Southern Europe +they are still supposed to be serving apprenticeship as witches. In +Sicily the peasants are sure that if a black cat lives with seven +masters, the soul of the seventh will surely accompany him back to the +dominion of Hades. In Brittany there is a dreadful tale of cats that +dance with unholy glee around the crucifix while their King is being put +to death. Cats figure in Norwegian folk-lore, too, as witches and +picturesque incumbents of ghost-haunted houses and nocturnal revels. And +even to-day there is a legend in Westminster to the effect that the +dissipated cats of that region indulge in a most disreputable revel in +some country house, and that is why they look so forlorn and altogether +undone by daylight. + +A canon enacted in England in 1127 forbade any abbess or nun to use more +costly fur than that of lambs or cats, and it is proved that cat-fur was +at that time commonly used for trimming dresses. The cat was, probably +for that reason, an object of chase in royal forests, and a license is +still in existence from Richard II to the Abbot of Peterborough, and +dated 1239, granting liberty to hunt cats. This was probably the wild +cat, however, which was not the same as the domestic.[1] + +[Footnote 1: + +These are among the laws supposedly enacted by Hoel Dha (Howell the +Good) sometime between 915 and 948 A.D. + +The Vendotian Code XI. + +The worth of a cat and her teithi (qualities) this is:-- + +1st. The worth of a kitten from the night it is kittened until it shall +open its eyes, is one penny. + +2d. And from that time until it shall kill mice, two pence. + +3d. And after it shall kill mice, four legal pence; and so it shall +always remain. + +4th. Her teithe are to see, to hear, to kill mice, and to have her claws. + +This is the "Dimentian Code." XXXII. Of Cats. + +1st. The worth of a cat that is killed or stolen. Its head to be put +downward upon a clean, even floor, with its tail lifted upward and thus +suspended, whilst wheat is poured about it until the top of its tail be +covered and that is to be its worth. If the corn cannot be had, then a +milch sheep with a lamb and its wool is its value, if it be a cat that +guards the king's barn. + +2d. The worth of a common cat is four legal pence. + +3d. The teithi of a cat, and of every animal upon the milk of which +people do not feed, is the third part of its worth or the worth of its +litter. + +4th. Whosoever shall sell a cat (cath) is to answer that she devour not +her kittens, and that she have ears, teeth, eyes, and nails, and be a +good mouser. + +The "Gwentian Code" begins in the same way, but says:-- + +3d. That it be perfect of ear, perfect of eye, perfect of teeth, perfect +of tail, perfect of claw, and without marks of fire. And if the cat fall +short in any of these particulars, a third of her price had to be +refunded. As to the fire, in case her fur had been singed the rats could +detect her by the odor, and her qualities as a mouser were thus injured. +And then it goes on to say:-- + +4th. That the teithi and the legal worth of a cat are coequal. + +5th. A pound is the worth of a pet animal of the king. + +6th. The pet animal of a breyer (brewer) is six score pence in value. + +7th. The pet animal of a taoog is a curt penny in value. + +In the 39th chapter, 53d section, we find that "there are three animals +whose tails, eyes, and lives are of the same value--a calf, a filly for +common work, and a cat, except the cat which shall watch the king's +barn," in which case she was more valuable. + +Another old Welsh law says: "Three animals reach their worth in a year: +a sheep, a cat, and a cur. This is a complement of the legal hamlet; +nine buildings, one plough, one kiln, one churn, and one cat, one cock, +one bull, and one herdsman." + +In order that there might be no mistake in regard to the cat, a rough +sketch of Puss is given in the Mss. of the laws.] + +That cats, even in the Middle Ages, were thought much more highly of in +Great Britain than on the Continent is proved by the fact that the laws +there imposed a heavy fine on cat-killers, the fine being as much wheat +as would serve to bury the cat when he was held up by the tip of the +tail with his nose on the ground. So that pet cats stood a fairly good +chance in those days. + +One of the good things remembered of Louis XIII is that he interceded as +Dauphin with Henri IV for the lives of the cats about to be burned at +the festival on St. John's Day. + +Nowadays, there is a current superstition that a black cat brings good +luck to a house; but in the Middle Ages they believed that the devil +borrowed the form of a black cat when he wanted to torment or get +control of his victims. There are plenty of old traditions about cats +having spoken to human beings, and been kicked, or struck, or burned by +them in return; and invariably, these tales tell us, those who are so +bespoken meet some one the next day with plain marks of the injury they +had inflicted on the froward cat,--which was sure evidence of witchery +and sorcery. Doubtless full many a human being has been put to death, in +times past, on no stronger evidence of being a witch. Humanity did not +come to the rescue of the cat and bring her out from the shadow of +ignominy that hung over her in mediaeval times until 1618, when an +interdict was issued in Flanders prohibiting the festive ceremony of +throwing cats from the high tower of Ypres on Wednesdays of the second +week in Lent. And from that time Pussy's fortunes began to look up. + +To-day, travellers on the edge of the Pyrenees know a little old man, +Martre Tolosan, who makes and sells replicas of the original models of +cats found among the Roman remains at a small town near Toulouse. These +are made in blue and white earthenware and each one is numbered. Mine, +bought by a friend in 1895, is marked 5000. They are not exact models of +our cats of to-day, to be sure, but they express all the snug content +and inscrutable calm of our modern pets. + +The Chinese reproduce cats in their ceramics in white, turquoise blue, +and old violet. One that once belonged to Madame de Mazarin sold for +eight hundred livres. In Japan, cats are reproduced in common ware, +daubed with paint, but the Chinese make them of finer ware, enamelling +the commoner kinds of porcelain and using the cat in conventional forms +as flower-vases and lamps. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS + + +Few people realize how many kinds of cats there are. The fashionable +world begins to discuss cats technically and understand their various +points of excellence. The "lord mayor's chain," the "Dutch rabbit +markings," and similar features are understood by more cat fanciers than +a few years ago; but, until within that time, it is doubtful if the +number of people who knew the difference between the Angora and the +Persian in this country amounted to a hundred. It is but a few years +since the craze for the Angora cat started. These cats have been +fashionable pets in England for some years back, and now America begins +to understand their value and the principles of breeding them. Today, +there are as handsome, well-bred animals in the United States as can be +found abroad. The demand for high-bred animals with a pedigree is +greatly increasing, and society people are beginning to understand the +fine points of the thoroughbred. + +The Angora cat, as its name indicates, comes from Angora in Western +Asia, the province that is celebrated for its goats with long hair of +fine quality. In fact, the hair under the Angora cat's body often +resembles the finest of the Angora goatskins. Angora cats are favorites +with the Turks and Armenians, and exist in many colors, especially since +they have been more carefully bred. They vary in form, color, and +disposition, and also in the quality of their hair. The standard calls +for a small head, with not too long a nose, large eyes that should +harmonize in color with the fur, small, pointed ears with a tuft of hair +at the apex, and a very full, fluffy mane around the neck. This mane is +known as the "lord mayor's chain." The body is longer than that of the +ordinary cat in proportion to its size, and is extremely graceful, and +covered with long, silky hair, which is crinkly like that of the Angora +goat. This hair should be as fine as possible, and not woolly. The legs +are of a moderate length, but look short on account of the length of +hair on the body. Little tufts of hair growing between the toes indicate +high breeding. The Angora cat, in good condition, is one of the most +beautiful and elegant creatures in the world, and few can resist its +charm. The tail is long and like an ostrich plume. It is usually +carried, when the cat is in good spirits, straight up, with the end +waving over toward one side. The tail of the Angora serves as a +barometer of its bodily and mental condition. If the cat is ill or +frightened, the tail droops, and sometimes trails on the ground; but +when she is in good spirits, playing about the house or grounds, it +waves like a great plume, and is exceedingly handsome. The suppleness of +the Angora's tail is also a mark of fine breeding. A highbred Angora +will allow its tail to be doubled or twisted without apparent notice of +the performance. + +The Angora does not reach its prime until about two years. Before that +time its head and body are not sufficiently developed to give the full +beauty and grace of the animal. As a rule, the Angora is of good +disposition, although the females are apt to be exceedingly nervous. +They are sociable and docile, although fond of roaming about, especially +if allowed to run loose. As a rule, they do not possess the keen +intelligence of the ordinary short-haired family cat, but their great +beauty and their cleanly and affectionate habits make them favorites +with fashionable people. The proper breeding of the Angora cat is a +regular science. Of the colors of the Angoras, the blue or maltese is a +favorite, and rather common, especially when mixed with white. + +The white Angora is extraordinarily beautiful, and brings a high price +when it has blue eyes and all its points are equally good. The orange, +or yellow, and the black with amber eyes are also prize winners. There +are the tigers also, the brown tabby, and the orange and white. Mixed +colors are more common than solid ones; the tortoise-shell cat of three +colors and well mottled being considered particularly desirable. + +The Persian cat differs from the Angora in the quality of its fur, +although the ordinary observer sees little difference between them. All +the long-haired cats originated from the Indian Bengalese, Thibetan, +and other wild cats of Asia and Russia. The Persian cat of very great +value is all black, with a very fluffy frill, or lord mayor's chain, and +orange eyes. Next to him comes a light slate or blue Persian, with +yellow eyes. The fur of the Persian cat is much more woolly than that of +the Angora, and sometimes in hot weather mats badly. The difference +between a Persian and an Angora can usually be told by an amateur, by +drawing the tail between the thumb and first finger. The Angora's tail +comes out thin, silky, and narrow, although it immediately "fluffs" up. +The Persian's tail does not compress itself readily into a small space. +The Persian cat's head is larger, its ears are less pointed, although it +should have the tuft at the end and the long hair inside. It is usually +larger in body and apparently stronger made, although slender and +elegant in appearance, with small bones and graceful in movement. The +colors vary, as with the Angora, except that the tortoise-shell and the +dark-marked tabby do not so frequently appear. The temper is usually +less reliable and the intelligence less keen than the Angora. + +The Russian long-haired pet is much less common even than the Persian +and Angora. It is fond of cold weather, and its fur is denser, +indicating that it has been used to colder regions. Many of the cats +that we see are crosses of Angora and Persian, or Angora and Russian, so +that it is extremely difficult for the amateur to know a thoroughbred +cat which has not been mixed with other varieties. + +There is also a fine short-haired cat coming from Russia, usually +self-colored. Mrs. Frederick Monroe, of Chicago, owns a very handsome +blue and white one. + +In Pegu, Siam, and Burmah, there is a race of cats known as the Malay +cat, with tails only half the ordinary length and often contorted into a +sort of a knot that cannot be straightened, after the fashion of the pug +dog or ordinary pig. + +There is another cat known as the Mombas, a native of the west coast of +Africa and covered with stiff, bristling hair. Paraguay cats are only +one-quarter as big as our ordinary cat, and are found along the western +coast of South America, even as far north as Mexico. + +The royal cat of Siam is a short-haired cat, yet widely different from +other short-haired varieties. They are extremely pretty, with blue or +amber-colored eyes by day which grow brilliant at night. These cats also +frequently have the kink in the tail, and sometimes a strong animal +odor, although this is not disagreeable. The head is rather longer than +the ordinary cat's, tapering off sharply toward the muzzle, the forehead +flat and receding, and the eyes more slanting toward the nose than the +American cat's. The form should be slender, graceful, and delicately +made; the body long; the tail very thin and rather short; the legs short +and slender, and the feet oval. The body is of a bright, uniform color, +and the legs, feet, and tail are usually black. + +The Manx cat is considered by many people as a natural curiosity. It +differs from the ordinary domestic cat but little, except in the absence +of a tail, or even an apology for one. The hind legs are thicker and +rather longer than the ordinary cat's, and it runs more like a hare. It +is not a graceful object when seen from behind, but it is an +affectionate, home-loving creature with considerable intelligence. The +Manx cat came from the Isle of Man originally, and is a distinct breed. +So-called Manx cats have tails from one to a few inches long, but these +are crosses of the Manx and the ordinary cat. In the Crimea is found +another kind of cat which has no tail. The cats known as the "celebrated +orange cats of Venice," are probably descendants of the old Egyptian +cat, and are of varying shades of yellow, sometimes deepening into a +sandy color which is almost red. There are obscure stripes on the body, +which become more distinct on the limbs. The tail is more or less ringed +toward its termination. + +There has been a newspaper paragraph floating about stating that a prize +of several thousand dollars had been offered in England for a male +tortoise-shell cat. This is probably not true, as a Mr. Smith exhibited +a tortoise-shell he-cat at the Crystal Palace Show of 1871. Several +tortoise-shell and white toms have been exhibited since, and one of +these has taken nine first prizes at the Crystal Palace Show; but the +tortoise-shell he-cat is extremely rare. The real tortoise-shell is not +a striped tiger nor a tabby. It has three colors usually, black, yellow, +and red or brown; but these appear in patches rather than stripes. It is +said that the tortoise-shell cat is common in Egypt and the south of +Europe. It comes from a different stock than the ordinary short-haired +cat, the texture of the hair being different, as well as the color. The +tortoise-shell and white cat is much more common, and is the product of +a cross between a tortoise shell and a solid color cat. In this case the +hair is usually coarser and the tail thicker than in the ordinary cat. + +Among cat fanciers there is a distinctive variety known as the +tortoise-shell tabby. As the tabby cat is one of the varieties of +striped or spotted cats having markings, broad or narrow, of bands of +black on a dark tan or gray ground, the tortoise-shell cat would have +both stripes and patches of color. + +Of the tabbies, there are brown tabbies, silver tabbies, and red +tabbies. It is said that the red tabby she-cat is as scarce as the +tortoise-shell he-cat. The ordinary observer considers the brown tabby +with white markings as much the handsomest of the tabbies. But fanciers +and judges do not agree with him, the cats having narrow bands and spots +being the ones to take prizes. The word "tabby," according to Harrison +Weir, was derived from a kind of taffeta or ribbed silk which used to be +called tabby silk. Other authorities state that tabby cats got their +name from Atab, a street in Bagdad; but as this street was famous for +its watered silks perhaps the same reason holds. The tortoise-shell used +to be called, in England, the Calimanco. In America, it is sometimes +called the calico cat. + +The red tabby is of a deep reddish or yellow brown, with a well-ringed +tail, orange or yellow eyes, and pink cushions to the feet. The brown +tabby is orange brown, with black lips, brown whiskers, black feet, +black pads, long tail, greenish orange eyes, and red nose bordered with +black. The spotted tabby must have no bands at all. It must be brown, +red, or yellow, with black spots. In the brown tabby the feet and pads +are black; in the yellow and red, the feet and pads are pink. The +spotted cat sometimes resembles a leopard, while the banded tabby +resembles more the tiger. Some of the spotted tabbies are extremely +handsome, and came originally from a cross between the ordinary cat and +the wild cat. + +"Self-colored cats" are entirely of one color, which may vary in +different cats, but must never be mixed in the same cat, nor even shaded +into a lighter tone on the animal; and whether this color be black, +blue, red, or yellow, the self-colored cat should have a rich deep tint. +Of course the short-haired white cat is the handsomest of all. One of +the peculiarities of this white cat is that it is apt to be deaf. The +most valuable white cats, whether long or short haired, have blue eyes. +Sometimes they have one blue eye and one green or yellow, which gives a +comical effect, and detracts from their value. By the way, cross-eyed +cats are not unknown. The best white cats have a yellowish white tint +instead of grayish white, as the latter have a coarser quality of fur. + +The jet-black cat is thought by many to be the most desirable. The true +black cat should have a uniform, intensely black coat, velvety and +extremely glossy; the eyes should be round and full, and of a brilliant +amber; the nose and pads of the feet should be jet-black, and the tail +long and tapering. It is difficult to find a black cat without a white +hair, as usually there are a few under the chin or on the belly. + +The blue cat is the one ordinarily known in this country as the dark +maltese. There is a tradition that it came from the Island of Malta. +Many people do not consider it a distinct breed, but think it a +light-colored variety of the black cat. It is known sometimes as the +Archangel, sometimes as the Russian blue, the Spanish blue, the +Chartreuse blue, but more commonly in this country as the maltese. When +it is of a deep bluish color, or of the soft silver-gray maltese without +stripes, it is extremely handsome. The most desirable are the bluish +lilac-colored ones, with soft fur like sealskin. The nose and pads of +the feet are dark, and the eyes are orange yellow. The maltese and white +cat when well marked is extremely handsome, and there is no prettier +kitten than the maltese and white. + +The black and white, yellow and white, blue and white, and in fact, any +self-colored and white cat is a mixture of the other breeds. If well +marked they are extremely handsome and are usually bright and +intelligent. + +The solid gray cat is very rare. It is, in fact, a tabby without the +black stripes or spots. + +In Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea there used to be no cat of any +kind. The Siamese cat has been imported to Australia, and some +authorities claim that the cats known in this country as Australian cats +are of Siamese origin. Madagascar is a catless region. + +There is in this country a variety known as the "coon cat," which is +handsome, especially in the solid black. Its native home is in Maine, +and it is thought by many to have originated with the ordinary cat and +the raccoon. It grows somewhat larger than the ordinary cat, with thick, +woolly fur and an extremely bushy tail. It is fond of outdoor life, and +when kept as a pet must be allowed to run out of doors or it is apt to +become so savage and disagreeable that nothing can be done with it. When +it is allowed its freedom, however, it becomes affectionate, +intelligent, and is usually a handsome cat. + +The term "Dutch rabbit markings" refers to the white markings on the cat +of two or three colors. Evidently, the cats themselves understand the +value of Dutch rabbit markings, as one which has them is invariably +proud of them. A cat that has white mittens, for instance, is often +inordinately vain, and keeps them in the most immaculate state of +cleanliness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE + + +Montaigne it was who said: "We have some intelligence of their senses: +so have also the beasts of ours in much the same measure. They flatter +us, menace us, need us, and we them. It is manifestly evident that there +is among them a full and entire communication, and that they understand +each other." + +That this applies to cats is certainly true. Did you ever notice how a +mother cat talks to her children, and simply by the utterances of her +voice induces them to abandon their play and go with her, sometimes with +the greatest reluctance, to some place that suited her whim--or her +wisdom? + +Dupont de Nemours, a naturalist of the eighteenth century, made himself +ridiculous in the eyes of his compatriots by seeking to penetrate the +mysteries of animal language. "Those who utter sounds," he affirmed, +"attach significance to them; their fellows do the same, and those +sounds originally inspired by passion and repeated under similar +recurrent circumstances, become the abiding expressions of the passions +that gave rise to them." + +Fortified by this theory he devoted a couple of years to the study of +crow language, and made himself ridiculous in the eyes of his +adversaries by attempting to translate a nightingale's song. + +Chateaubriand was much interested in Dupont de Nemours's researches into +the language of cats. "Its claws," says the latter, "and the power of +climbing trees which its claws give it, furnish the cat with resources +of experience and ideas denied the dog. The cat, also, has the advantage +of a language which has the same vowels as pronounced by the dog, +and with six consonants in addition, _m, n, g, h, v_, and _f_. +Consequently the cat has a greater number of words. These two causes, +the finer structure of its paws, and the larger scope of oral language, +endow the solitary cat with greater cunning and skill as a hunter than +the dog." + +Abbé Galiani also says: "For centuries cats have been reared, but I do +not find they have ever been really studied. I have a male and a female +cat. I have cut them off from all communication with cats outside the +house, and closely observe their proceedings. During their courtship +they never once miowed: the miow, therefore, is not the language of +love, but rather the call of the absent. Another positive discovery I +have made is that the voice of the male is entirely different from that +of the female, as it should be. I am sure there are more than twenty +different inflections in the language of cats, and there is really a +'tongue' for they always employ the same sound to express the same +thing." + +I heartily concur with him, and in addition have often noticed the wide +difference between the voice and manner of expression of the gelded cat +and the ordinary tom. The former has a thin, high voice with much +smaller vocabulary. As a rule, the gelded cat does not "mew" to make +known his wants, but employs his voice for conversational purposes. A +mother cat "talks" much more than any other, and more when she has small +kittens than at other times. + +Cat language has been reduced to etymology in several tongues. In Arabia +their speech is called naoua; in Chinese, ming; in Greek, larungizein; +in Sanscrit, madj, vid, bid; in German, miauen; in French miauler; and +in English, mew or "miaouw." + +Perhaps, if Professor Garner had turned his attention to cat language +instead of monkeys we would know more about it. But a French professor, +Alphonse Léon Grimaldi, of Paris, claims that cats can talk as readily +as human beings, and that he has learned their language so as to be able +to converse with them to some extent. Grimaldi goes even further: he not +only says that he knows such a language, but he states definitely that +there are about six hundred words in it, that it is more like modern +Chinese than anything else, and to prove this contention, gives a small +vocabulary. + +Most of us would prefer to accept St. George Mivart's conclusions, that +the difference between all animals and human beings is that while they +have some means of communication, or language, we only have the gift of +speech. Among the eighteen distinct active powers which he attributes to +the cat, he quotes: "16th, powers of pleasurable or painful excitement +on the occurrence of sense-perceptions with imaginations, +_emotions_;" and "17th, a power of expressing feelings by sounds or +gestures which may affect other individuals,--_emotional +language_." + +Again he says: "The cat has a language of sounds and gestures to express +its feelings and emotions. So have we. But we have further--which +neither the cat, nor the bird, nor the beast has--a language and +gestures to express our thoughts." The sum of his conclusions seems to +be that while the cat has a most highly developed nervous system, and +much of what is known as "animal intelligence," it is not a human +intelligence--not consciousness, but "con-sentience." + +Elsewhere St. George Mivart doubts if a cat distinguishes odors as such. +Perhaps a cat starts for the kitchen the instant he smells meat because +of the mental association of the scent with the gratification of hunger; +but why, pray tell, do some cats evince such delight in delicate +perfumes? Our own Pomp the First, for instance, had a most demonstrative +fondness for violets, and liked the scent of all flowers. One winter I +used to bring home a bunch of Parma or Russian violets every day or two, +and put them in a small glass bowl of water. It soon became necessary to +put them on the highest shelf in the room, and even then Pompey would +find them. Often have I placed them on the piano, and a few minutes +later seen him enter the room, lift his nose, give a few sniffs, and +then go straight to the piano, bury his nose in the violets, and hold it +there in perfect ecstacy. And usually, wherever they were placed, the +bunch was found the next morning on the floor, where Pompey had carried +the violets, and holding them between his paws for a time, had surfeited +himself with their delicious fragrance. + +Still, I am not prepared to say that Pompey had any word for violets, or +for anything else that ministered to his delight. It was enough for him +to be happy; and he had better ways of expressing it. + +Cats do have the power of making people understand what they want done, +but so far as my knowledge of them goes, some of the most intelligent +ones "talk" the least. Thomas Erastus, whose intelligence sometimes +amounts to a knowledge that seems almost uncanny, seldom utters a sound. + +There is--or was--a black cat belonging to the city jail of a +Californian town, named "Inspector Byrnes," because of his remarkable +assistance to the police force. When, one night, a prisoner in the jail +had stuffed the cracks to his cell with straw, and turned on the gas in +an attempt to commit suicide, "Inspector Byrnes" hurried off and +notified the night keeper that something was wrong, and induced him to +go to the cell in time to save the prisoner's life. He once notified the +police when a fire broke out on the premises, and at another time made +such a fuss that they followed him--to discover a woman trying to hang +herself. Again, some of the prisoners plotted to escape, and the cat +crawled through the hole they had filed and called the warden's +attention to it. In fact, there was no doubt that "Inspector Byrnes" +considered himself assistant warden at the jail, and he did not waste +much time in talk either. + +The Pretty Lady had ways of her own to make us know when things were +wrong in the household, although she used to utter a great many sounds, +either of pleasure or perturbation, which we came to understand. I +remember one morning, when my sister was ill upstairs, that I had +breakfasted and sat down to read my morning's mail, when the Pretty Lady +came, uttering sounds that denoted dissatisfaction with matters +somewhere. I was busy, and at first paid no attention to her; but she +grew more persistent, so that I finally laid down my letters and asked: +"What is it, Puss? Haven't you had breakfast enough?" I went out to the +kitchen, and she followed, all the time protesting articulately. She +would not touch the meat I offered, but evidently wanted something +entirely different. Just then my sister came down and said:-- + +"I wish you would go up and see H. She is suffering terribly, and I +don't know what to do for her." + +At that the Pretty Lady led the way into the hall and up the stairs, +pausing at every third step to make sure I was following, and leading me +straight to my sister. Then she settled herself calmly on the foot-board +and closed her eyes, as though the whole affair was no concern of hers. +Afterward, my sister said that when the pain became almost unendurable, +so that she tossed about and groaned, the Pretty Lady came close to her +face and talked to her, just as she did to her kittens when they were in +distress, showing plainly that she sympathized with and would help her. +When she found it impossible to do this, she hurried down to me. And +then having got me actually up to my sister's bedside, she threw off her +own burden of anxiety and settled into her usual calm content. + +"My Goliath is at the helm now," she expressed by her attitude, "and the +world is sure to go right a little longer while I take a nap." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. Winslow + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CATS *** + +This file should be named 8cats10.txt or 8cats10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8cats11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8cats10a.txt + +Produced by Dr. Dwight Holden, Ted Garvin, David Garcia +and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8cats10.zip b/old/8cats10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6569041 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8cats10.zip diff --git a/old/8cats10h.htm b/old/8cats10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc8d84b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8cats10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7084 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. + Winslow. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 12pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced; } + // --> + </style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. Winslow + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Concerning Cats + My Own and Some Others + +Author: Helen M. Winslow + +Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9501] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 6, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CONCERNING CATS *** + + + + +Produced by Dr. Dwight Holden, Ted Garvin, David Garcia and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h1> + Concerning Cats + </h1> + <center> + My Own and Some Others + </center> + <center> + <b>By Helen M. Winslow</b> + </center> + <center> + Editor of "The Club Woman" + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <center> + <b>To the</b><br> + <br> + <b>"PRETTY LADY"</b><br> + <br> + WHO NEVER BETRAYED A SECRET, BROKE A PROMISE, OR<br> + PROVED AN UNFAITHFUL FRIEND; WHO HAD<br> + ALL THE VIRTUES AND NONE OF<br> + THE FAILINGS OF HER SEX<br> + <br> + <b>I Dedicate this Volume</b> + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="TOC"><!-- TOC --></a> + <h2> + CONTENTS + </h2> + <p> + CHAPTER + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH1">I. CONCERNING THE PRETTY LADY.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH2">II. CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH3">III. CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH4">IV. CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH5">V. CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH6">VI. CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH7">VII. CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH8">VIII. CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN + AMERICA.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH9">IX. CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH10">X. CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH11">XI. CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH12">XII. CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH13">XIII. CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS.</a> + </p> + <p> + <a href="#CH14">XIV. CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE.</a> + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <h3> + <i>Concerning Cats</i> + </h3> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH1"><!-- CH1 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING THE "PRETTY LADY" + </center> + <p> + She was such a Pretty Lady, and gentle withal; so quiet and + eminently ladylike in her behavior, and yet dignified and + haughtily reserved as a duchess. Still it is better, under + certain circumstances, to be a cat than to be a duchess. And + no duchess of the realm ever had more faithful retainers or + half so abject subjects. + </p> + <p> + Do not tell me that cats never love people; that only places + have real hold upon their affections. The Pretty Lady was + contented wherever I, her most humble slave, went with her. + She migrated with me from boarding-house to sea-shore + cottage; then to regular housekeeping; up to the mountains + for a summer, and back home, a long day's journey on the + railway; and her attitude was always "Wheresoever thou goest + I will go, and thy people shall be my people." + </p> + <p> + I have known, and loved, and studied many cats, but my + knowledge of her alone would convince me that cats love + people—in their dignified, reserved way, and when they + feel that their love is not wasted; that they reason, and + that they seldom act from impulse. + </p> + <p> + I do not remember that I was born with an inordinate fondness + for cats; or that I cried for them as an infant. I do not + know, even, that my childhood was marked by an overweening + pride in them; this, perhaps, was because my cruel parents + established a decree, rigid and unbending as the laws of the + Medes and Persians, that we must never have more than one cat + at a time. Although this very law may argue that + predilection, at an early age, for harboring everything + feline which came in my way, which has since become at once a + source of comfort and distraction. + </p> + <p> + After a succession of feline dynasties, the kings and queens + of which were handsome, ugly, sleek, forlorn, black, white, + deaf, spotted, and otherwise marked, I remember fastening my + affections securely upon one kitten who grew up to be the + ugliest, gauntest, and dingiest specimen I ever have seen. In + the days of his kittenhood I christened him "Tassie" after + his mother; but as time sped on, and the name hardly + comported with masculine dignity, this was changed to + Tacitus, as more befitting his sex. He had a habit of dodging + in and out of the front door, which was heavy, and which + sometimes swung together before he was well out of it. As a + consequence, a caudal appendage with two broken joints was + one of his distinguishing features. Besides a broken tail, he + had ears which bore the marks of many a hard-fought battle, + and an expression which for general "lone and lorn"-ness + would have discouraged even Mrs. Gummidge. But I loved him, + and judging from the disconsolate and long-continued wailing + with which he rilled the house whenever I was away, my + affection was not unrequited. + </p> + <p> + But my real thraldom did not begin until I took the Pretty + Lady's mother. We had not been a week in our first house + before a handsomely striped tabby, with eyes like beautiful + emeralds, who had been the pet and pride of the next-door + neighbor for five years, came over and domiciled herself. In + due course of time she proudly presented us with five + kittens. Educated in the belief that one cat was all that was + compatible with respectability, I had four immediately + disposed of, keeping the prettiest one, which grew up into + the beautiful, fascinating, and seductive maltese "Pretty + Lady," with white trimmings to her coat. The mother of Pretty + Lady used to catch two mice at a time, and bringing them in + together, lay one at my feet and say as plainly as cat + language can say, "There, you eat that one, and I'll eat + this," and then seem much surprised and disgusted that I had + not devoured mine when she had finished her meal. + </p> + <p> + We were occupying a furnished house for the summer, however, + and as we were to board through the winter, I took only the + kitten back to town, thinking the mother would return to her + former home, just over the fence. But no. For two weeks she + refused all food and would not once enter the other house. + Then I went out for her, and hearing my voice she came in and + sat down before me, literally scolding me for a quarter of an + hour. I shall be laughed at, but actual tears stood in her + lovely green eyes and ran down her aristocratic nose, + attesting her grief and accusing me, louder than her wailing, + of perfidy. + </p> + <p> + I could not keep her. She would not return to her old home. I + finally compromised by carrying her in a covered basket a + mile and a half and bestowing her upon a friend who loves + cats nearly as well as I. But although she was petted, and + praised, and fed on the choicest of delicacies, she would not + be resigned. After six weeks of mourning, she disappeared, + and never was heard of more. Whether she sought a new and + more constant mistress, or whether, in her grief at my + shameless abandonment of her, she went to some lonely pier + and threw herself off the dock, will never be known. But her + reproachful gaze and tearful emerald eyes haunted me all + winter. Many a restless night did I have to reproach myself + for abandoning a creature who so truly loved me; and in many + a dream did she return to heap shame and ignominy upon my + repentant head. + </p> + <p> + This experience determined me to cherish her daughter, whom, + rather, I cherished as her son, until there were three little + new-born kittens, which in a moment of ignorance I "disposed + of" at once. Naturally, the young mother fell exceedingly + ill. In the most pathetic way she dragged herself after me, + moaning and beseeching for help. Finally, I succumbed, went + to a neighbor's where several superfluous kittens had arrived + the night before, and begged one. It was a little black + fellow, cold and half dead; but the Pretty Lady was beside + herself with joy when I bestowed it upon her. For two days + she would not leave the box where I established their + headquarters, and for months she refused to wean it, or to + look upon it as less than absolutely perfect. I may say that + the Pretty Lady lived to be nine years old, and had, during + that brief period, no less than ninety-three kittens, besides + two adopted ones; but never did she bestow upon any of her + own offspring that wealth of pride and affection which was + showered upon black Bobbie. + </p> + <p> + When the first child of her adoption was two weeks old, I was + ill one morning, and did not appear at breakfast. It had + always been her custom to wait for my coming down in the + morning, evidently considering it a not unimportant part of + her duty to see me well launched for the day. Usually she sat + at the head of the stairs and waited patiently until she + heard me moving about. Sometimes she came in and sat on a + chair at the head of my bed, or gently touched my face with + her nose or paw. Although she knew she was at liberty to + sleep in my room, she seldom did so, except when she had an + infant on her hands. At first she invariably kept him in a + lower drawer of my bureau. When he was large enough, she + removed him to the foot of the bed, where for a week or two + her maternal solicitude and sociable habits of nocturnal + conversation with her progeny interfered seriously with my + night's rest. If my friends used to notice a wild and haggard + appearance of unrest about me at certain periods of the year, + the reason stands here confessed. + </p> + <p> + I was ill when black Bobbie was two weeks old. The Pretty + Lady waited until breakfast was over, and as I did not + appear, came up and jumped on the bed, where she manifested + some curiosity as to my lack of active interest in the + world's affairs. + </p> + <p> + "Now, pussy," I said, putting out my hand and stroking her + back, "I'm sick this morning. When you were sick, I went and + got you a kitten. Can't you get me one?" + </p> + <p> + This was all. My sister came in then and spoke to me, and the + Pretty Lady left us at once; but in less than two minutes she + came back with her cherished kitten in her mouth. Depositing + him in my neck, she stood and looked at me, as much as to + say:— + </p> + <p> + "There, you can take him awhile. He cured me and I won't be + selfish; I will share him with you." + </p> + <p> + I was ill for three days, and all that time the kitten was + kept with me. When his mother wanted him, she kept him on the + foot of the bed, where she nursed, and lapped, and scrubbed + him until it seemed as if she must wear even his stolid + nerves completely out. But whenever she felt like going out + she brought him up and tucked him away in the hollow of my + neck, with a little guttural noise that, interpreted, + meant:— + </p> + <p> + "There, now you take care of him awhile. I'm all tired out. + Don't wake him up." + </p> + <p> + But when the infant had dropped soundly asleep, she + invariably came back and demanded him; and not only demanded, + but dragged him forth from his lair by the nape of the neck, + shrieking and protesting, to the foot of the bed again, where + he was obliged to go through another course of scrubbing and + vigorous maternal attentions that actually kept his fur from + growing as fast as the coats of less devotedly cared-for + kittens grow. + </p> + <p> + When I was well enough to leave my room, she transferred him + to my lower bureau drawer, and then to a vantage-point behind + an old lounge. But she never doubted, apparently, that it was + the loan of that kitten that rescued me from an untimely + grave. + </p> + <p> + I have lost many an hour of much-needed sleep from my cat's + habit of coming upstairs at four A.M. and jumping suddenly + upon the bed; perhaps landing on the pit of my stomach. + Waking in that fashion, unsympathetic persons would have + pardoned me if I had indulged in injudicious language, or had + even thrown the cat violently from my otherwise peaceful + couch. But conscience has not to upbraid me with any of these + things. I flatter myself that I bear even this patiently; I + remember to have often made sleepy but pleasant remarks to + the faithful little friend whose affection for me and whose + desire to behold my countenance was too great to permit her + to wait till breakfast time. + </p> + <p> + If I lay awake for hours afterward, perhaps getting nothing + more than literal "cat-naps," I consoled myself with + remembering how Richelieu, and Wellington, and Mohammed, and + otherwise great as well as discriminating persons, loved + cats; I remembered, with some stirrings of secret pride, that + it is only the artistic nature, the truly aesthetic soul that + appreciates poetry, and grace, and all refined beauty, who + truly loves cats; and thus meditating with closed eyes, I + courted slumber again, throughout the breaking dawn, while + the cat purred in delight close at hand. + </p> + <p> + The Pretty Lady was evidently of Angora or coon descent, as + her fur was always longer and silkier than that of ordinary + cats. She was fond of all the family. When we boarded in + Boston, we kept her in a front room, two flights from the + ground. Whenever any of us came in the front door, she knew + it. No human being could have told, sitting in a closed room + in winter, two flights up, the identity of a person coming up + the steps and opening the door. But the Pretty Lady, then + only six months old, used to rouse from her nap in a big + chair, or from the top of a folding bed, jump down, and be at + the hall door ready to greet the incomer, before she was + halfway up the stairs. The cat never got down for the wrong + person, and she never neglected to meet any and every member + of our family who might be entering. The irreverent scoffer + may call it "instinct," or talk about the "sense of smell." I + call it sagacity. + </p> + <p> + One summer we all went up to the farm in northern Vermont, + and decided to take her and her son, "Mr. McGinty," with us. + We put them both in a large market-basket and tied the cover + securely. On the train Mr. McGinty manifested a desire to get + out, and was allowed to do so, a stout cord having been + secured to his collar first, and the other end tied to the + car seat. He had a delightful journey, once used to the noise + and motion of the train. He sat on our laps, curled up on the + seat and took naps, or looked out of the windows with evident + puzzlement at the way things had suddenly taken to flying; he + even made friends with the passengers, and in general amused + himself as any other traveller would on an all-day's journey + by rail, except that he did not risk his eyesight by reading + newspapers. But the Pretty Lady had not travelled for some + years, and did not enjoy the trip as well as formerly; on the + contrary she curled herself into a round tight ball in one + corner of the basket till the journey's end was reached. + </p> + <p> + Once at the farm she seemed contented as long as I remained + with her. There was plenty of milk and cream, and she caught + a great many mice. She was far too dainty to eat them, but + she had an inherent pleasure in catching mice, just like her + more plebeian sisters; and she enjoyed presenting them to Mr. + McGinty or me, or some other worthy object of her solicitude. + </p> + <p> + She was at first afraid of "the big outdoors." The wide, + wind-blown spaces, the broad, sunshiny sky, the silence and + the roominess of it all, were quite different from her + suburban experiences; and the farm animals, too, were in her + opinion curiously dangerous objects. Big Dan, the horse, was + truly a horrible creature; the rooster was a new and + suspicious species of biped, and the bleating calves objects + of her direst hatred. + </p> + <p> + The pig in his pen possessed for her the most horrid + fascination. Again and again would she steal out and place + herself where she could see that dreadful, strange, pink, fat + creature inside his own quarters. She would fix her round + eyes widely upon him in blended fear and admiration. If the + pig uttered the characteristic grunt of his race, the Pretty + Lady at first ran swiftly away; but afterward she used to + turn and gaze anxiously at us, as if to say:— + </p> + <p> + "Do you hear that? Isn't this a truly horrible creature?" and + in other ways evince the same sort of surprise that a + professor in the Peabody Museum might, were the skeleton of + the megatherium suddenly to accost him after the manner + peculiar to its kind. + </p> + <p> + It was funnier, even, to see Mr. McGinty on the morning after + his arrival at the farm, as he sallied forth and made + acquaintance with other of God's creatures than humans and + cats, and the natural enemy of his kind, the dog. In his + suburban home he had caught rats and captured on the sly many + an English sparrow. When he first investigated his new + quarters on the farm, he discovered a beautiful flock of very + large birds led by one of truly gorgeous plumage. + </p> + <p> + "Ah!" thought Mr. McGinty, "this is a great and glorious + country, where I can have such birds as these for the + catching. Tame, too. I'll have one for breakfast." + </p> + <p> + So he crouched down, tiger-like, and crept carefully along to + a convenient distance and was preparing to spring, when the + large and gorgeous bird looked up from his worm and + remarked:— + </p> + <p> + "Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut!" and, taking his wives, withdrew + toward the barn. + </p> + <p> + Mr. McGinty drew back amazed. "This is a queer bird," he + seemed to say; "saucy, too. However, I'll soon have him," and + he crept more carefully than before up to springing distance, + when again this most gorgeous bird drew up and exclaimed, + with a note of annoyance:— + </p> + <p> + "Cut-cut-cut, ca-dah-cut! What ails that old cat, anyway?" + And again he led his various wives barn-ward. + </p> + <p> + Mr. McGinty drew up with a surprised air, and apparently made + a cursory study of the leading anatomical features of this + strange bird; but he did not like to give up, and soon + crouched and prepared for another onslaught. This time Mr. + Chanticleer allowed the cat to come up close to his flock, + when he turned and remarked in the most amicable manner, + "Cut-cut-cut-cut!" which interpreted seemed to mean: "Come + now; that's all right. You're evidently new here; but you'd + better take my advice and not fool with me." + </p> + <p> + Anyhow, with this, down went McGinty's hope of a bird + breakfast "to the bottom of the sea," and he gave up the + hunt. He soon made friends, however, with every animal on the + place, and so endeared himself to the owners that he lived + out his days there with a hundred acres and more as his own + happy hunting-ground. + </p> + <p> + Not so, the Pretty Lady. I went away on a short visit after a + few weeks, leaving her behind. From the moment of my + disappearance she was uneasy and unhappy. On the fifth day + she disappeared. When I returned and found her not, I am not + ashamed to say that I hunted and called her everywhere, nor + even that I shed a few tears when days rolled into weeks and + she did not appear, as I realized that she might be starving, + or have suffered tortures from some larger animal. + </p> + <p> + There are many remarkable stories of cats who find their way + home across almost impossible roads and enormous distances. + There is a saying, believed by many people, "You can't lose a + cat," which can be proved by hundreds of remarkable returns. + But the Pretty Lady had absolutely no sense of locality. She + had always lived indoors and had never been allowed to roam + the neighborhood. It was five weeks before we found trace of + her, and then only by accident. My sister was passing a field + of grain, and caught a glimpse of a small creature which she + at first thought to be a woodchuck. She turned and looked at + it, and called "Pussy, pussy," when with a heart-breaking + little cry of utter delight and surprise, our beloved cat + came toward her. From the first, the wide expanse of the + country had confused her; she had evidently "lost her + bearings" and was probably all the time within fifteen + minutes' walk of the farm-house. + </p> + <p> + When found, she was only a shadow of herself, and for the + first and only time in her life we could count her ribs. She + was wild with delight, and clung to my sister's arms as + though fearing to lose her; and in all the fuss that was made + over her return, no human being could have showed more + affection, or more satisfaction at finding her old friends + again. + </p> + <p> + That she really was lost, and had no sense of locality to + guide her home, was proven by her conduct after she returned + to her Boston home. I had preceded my sister, and was at the + theatre on the evening when she arrived with the Pretty Lady. + The latter was carried into the kitchen, taken from her + basket, and fed. Then, instead of going around the house and + settling herself in her old home, she went into the front + hall which she had left four months before, and seated + herself on the spot where she always watched and waited when + I was out. When I came home at eleven, I saw through the + screen door her "that was lost and is found." She had been + waiting to welcome me for three mortal hours. + </p> + <p> + I wish those people who believe cats have no affection for + people could have seen her then. She would not leave me for + an instant, and manifested her love in every possible way; + and when I retired for the night, she curled up on my pillow + and purred herself contentedly to sleep, only rising when I + did. After breakfast that first morning after her return, she + asked to be let out of the back door, and made me understand + that I must go with her. I did so, and she explored every + part of the back yard, entreating me in the same way she + called her kittens to keep close by her. She investigated our + own premises thoroughly and then crept carefully under the + fences on either side into the neighbor's precincts where she + had formerly visited in friendly fashion; then she came + timidly back, all the time keeping watch that she did not + lose me. Having finished her tour of inspection, she went in + and led me on an investigating trip all through the house, + smelling of every corner and base-board, and insisting that + every closet door should be opened, so that she might smell + each closet through in the same way. When this was done, she + settled herself in one of her old nooks for a nap and allowed + me to leave. + </p> + <p> + But never again did she go out of sight of the house. For + more than a year she would not go even into a neighbor's + yard, and when she finally decided that it might be safe to + crawl under the fences on to other territory, she invariably + turned about to sit facing the house, as though living up to + a firm determination never to lose sight of it again. This + practice she kept up until at the close of her last mortal + sickness, when she crawled into a dark place under a + neighboring barn and said good-by to earthly fears and + worries forever. + </p> + <p> + <i>Requiescat in pace</i>, my Pretty Lady. I wish all your + sex had your gentle dignity, and grace, and beauty, to say + nothing of your faithfulness and affection. Like Mother + Michel's "Monmouth," it may be said of you:— + </p> + <center> + "She was merely a cat,<br> + But her Sublime Virtues place her on a level with<br> + The Most Celebrated Mortals,<br> + and<br> + In Ancient Egypt<br> + Altars would have been Erected to her<br> + Memory." + </center> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH2"><!-- CH2 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING MY OTHER CATS + </center> + <p> + "Oh, what a lovely cat!" is a frequent expression from + visitors or passers-by at our house. And from the Pretty Lady + down through her various sons and daughters to the present + family protector and head, "Thomas Erastus," and the Angora, + "Lady Betty," there have been some beautiful creatures. + </p> + <p> + Mr. McGinty was a solid-color maltese, with fur like a seal + for closeness and softness, and with the disposition of an + angel. He used to be seized with sudden spasms of affection + and run from one to another of the family, rubbing his soft + cheeks against ours, and kissing us repeatedly. This he did + by taking gentle little affectionate nips with his teeth. I + used to give him a certain caress, which he took as an + expression of affection. After leaving him at the farm I did + not see him again for two years. Then on a short visit, I + asked for Mr. McGinty and was told that he was in a shed + chamber. I found him asleep in a box of grain and took him + out; he looked at me through sleepy eyes, turned himself over + and stretched up for the old caress. As nobody ever gave him + that but me, I take this as conclusive proof that he not only + knew me, but remembered my one peculiarity. + </p> + <p> + Then there was old Pomp, called "old" to distinguish him from + the young Pomp of to-day, or "Pompanita." He died of + pneumonia at the age of three years; but he was the + handsomest black cat—and the blackest—I have ever + seen. He had half a dozen white hairs under his chin; but his + blackness was literally like the raven's wing. Many handsome + black cats show brown in the strong sunlight, or when their + fur is parted. But old Pomp's fur was jet black clear + through, and in the sunshine looked as if he had been made up + of the richest black silk velvet, his eyes, meanwhile, being + large and of the purest amber. He weighed some fifteen + pounds, and that somebody envied us the possession of him was + evident, as he was stolen two or three times during the last + summer of his life. But he came home every time; only when + Death finally stole him, we had no redress. + </p> + <p> + "Bobinette," the black kitten referred to in the previous + chapter, also had remarkably beautiful eyes. We used to keep + him in ribbons to match, and he knew color, too, perfectly + well. For instance, if we offered him a blue or a red ribbon, + he would not be quiet long enough to have it tied on; but + show him a yellow one, and he would prance across the room, + and not only stand still to have it put on, but purr and + evince the greatest pride in it. + </p> + <p> + Bobinette had another very pretty trick of playing with the + tape-measure. He used to bring it to us and have it wound + several times around his body; then he would "chase himself" + until he got it off, when he would bring it back and ask + plainly to have it wound round him again. After a little we + noticed he was wearing the tape-measure out, and so we tried + to substitute it with an old ribbon or piece of cotton tape. + But Bobinette would have none of them. On the contrary, he + repeatedly climbed on to the table and to the work-basket, + and hunted patiently for his tape-measure, and even if it + were hidden in a pocket, he kept up the search until he + unearthed it; and he would invariably end by dragging forth + that particular tape-measure and bringing it to us. I need + not say that his intelligence was rewarded. + </p> + <p> + Speaking of colors, a friend has a cat that is devoted to + blue. When she puts on a particularly pretty blue gown, the + cat hastens to get into her lap, put her face down to the + material, purr, and manifest the greatest delight; but let + the same lady put on a black dress, and the cat will not come + near her. + </p> + <p> + "Pompanita," the second Pomp in our dynasty, is a fat and + billowy black fellow, now five years old and weighing + nineteen pounds. He was the last of the Pretty Lady's + ninety-three children. Only a few of this vast progeny, + however, grew to cat-hood, as she was never allowed to keep + more than one each season. The Pretty Lady, in fact, came to + regard this as the only proper method. On one occasion I had + been away all day. When I got home at night the housekeeper + said, "Pussy has had five kittens, but she won't go near + them." When the Pretty Lady heard my voice, she came and led + the way to the back room where the kittens were in the lower + drawer of an unused bureau, and uttered one or two funny + little noises, intimating that matters were not altogether as + they should be, according to established rules of propriety. + I understood, abstracted four of the five kittens, and + disappeared. When I came back she had settled herself + contentedly with the remaining kitten, and from that time on + was a model mother. + </p> + <p> + Pompanita the Good has all the virtues of a good cat, and + absolutely no vices. He loves us all and loves all other cats + as well. As for fighting, he emulates the example of that + veteran who boasts that during the war he might always be + found where the shot and shell were the thickest,—under + the ammunition wagon. Like most cats he has a decided streak + of vanity. My sister cut a wide, fancy collar, or ruff, of + white paper one day, and put it on Pompanita. At first he + felt much abashed and found it almost impossible to walk with + it. But a few words of praise and encouragement changed all + that. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, what a pretty Pomp he is now!" exclaimed one and + another, until he sat up coyly and cocked his head one side + as if to say:— + </p> + <p> + "Oh, now, do you really think I look pretty?" and after a few + more assurances he got down and strutted as proudly as any + peacock; much to the discomfiture of the kitten, who wanted + to play with him. And now he will cross the yard any time to + have one of those collars on. + </p> + <p> + But Thomas Erastus is the prince of our cats to-day. He + weighs seventeen pounds, and is a soft, grayish-maltese with + white paws and breast. One Saturday night ten years ago, as + we were partaking of our regular Boston baked beans, I heard + a faint mew. Looking down I saw beside me the thinnest kitten + I ever beheld. The Irish girl who presided over our fortunes + at the time used to place the palms of her hands together and + say of Thomas's appearance, "Why, mum, the two sides of 'im + were just like that." I picked him up, and he crawled + pathetically into my neck and cuddled down. + </p> + <p> + "There," said a friend who was sitting opposite, "he's fixed + himself now. You'll keep him." + </p> + <p> + "No, I shall not," I said, "but I will feed him a few days + and give him to my cousin." Inside half an hour, however, + Thomas Erastus had assumed the paternal air toward us that + soon made us fear to lose him. Living without Thomas now + would be like a young girl's going out without a chaperone. + After that first half-hour, when he had been fed, he chased + every foreign cat off the premises, and assumed the part of a + watch-dog. To this day he will sit on the front porch or the + window-sill and growl if he sees a tramp or suspicious + character approaching. He always goes into the kitchen when + the market-man calls, and orders his meat; and at exactly + five o'clock in the afternoon, when the meat is cut up and + distributed, leads the feline portion of the family into the + kitchen. + </p> + <p> + Thomas knows the time of day. For six months he waked up one + housekeeper at exactly seven o'clock in the morning, never + varying two minutes. He did this by seating himself on her + chest and gazing steadfastly in her face. Usually this waked + her, but if she did not yield promptly to that treatment he + would poke her cheeks with the most velvety of paws until she + awoke. He has a habit now of going upstairs and sitting + opposite the closed door of the young man who has to rise + hours before the rest of us do, and waiting until the door is + opened for him. How he knows at what particular moment each + member of the family will wake up and come forth is a + mystery, but he does. + </p> + <p> + How do cats tell the hour of day, anyway? The old Chinese + theory that they are living clocks is, in a way, borne out by + their own conduct. Not only have my cats shown repeatedly + that they know the hour of rising of every member of the + family, but they gather with as much regularity as the ebbing + of the tides, or the setting of the sun, at exactly five + o'clock in the afternoon for their supper. They are given a + hearty breakfast as soon as the kitchen fire is started in + the morning. This theoretically lasts them until five. I say + theoretically, because if they wake from their invariable + naps at one, and smell lunch, they individually wheedle some + one into feeding them. But this is only individually. + Collectively they are fed at five. + </p> + <p> + They are the most methodical creatures in the world. They go + to bed regularly at night when the family does. They are + waiting in the kitchen for breakfast when the fire is started + in the morning. Then they go out of doors and play, or hunt, + or ruminate until ten o'clock, when they come in, seek their + favorite resting-places, and sleep until four. Evidently, + from four to five is a play hour, and the one who wakes first + is expected to stir up the others. But at exactly five, no + matter where they may have strayed to, every one of the + three, five, or seven (as the number may happen to be) will + be sitting in his own particular place in the kitchen, + waiting with patient eagerness for supper. For each has a + particular place for eating, just as bigger folk have their + places at the dining table. Thomas Erastus sits in a corner; + the space under the table is reserved especially for Jane. + Pompanita is at his mistress's feet, and Lady Betty, the + Angora, bounds to her shoulder when their meat appears. Their + table manners are quite irreproachable also. It is considered + quite unpardonable to snatch at another's piece of meat, and + a breach of the best cat-etiquette to show impatience while + another is being fed. + </p> + <p> + I do not pretend to say that this is entirely natural. They + are taught these things as kittens, and since cats are as + great sticklers for propriety and gentle manners as any human + beings can be, they never forget it. Doubtless, this is + easier because they are always well fed, but Thomas Erastus + or Jane would have to be on the verge of starvation, I am + sure, before they would "grab" from one of the other cats. + And as for the Pretty Lady, it was always necessary to see + that she was properly served. She would not eat from a dish + with other cats, or, except in extreme cases, from one they + had left. Indeed, she was remarkable in this respect. I have + seen her sit on the edge of a table where chickens were being + dressed and wait patiently for a tidbit; I have seen her left + alone in the room, while on that table was a piece of raw + steak, but no temptation was ever great enough to make her + touch any of these forbidden things. She actually seemed to + have a conscience. + </p> + <p> + Only one thing on the dining table would she touch. When she + was two or three months old, she somehow got hold of the + table-napkins done up in their rings. These were always to + her the most delightful playthings in the world. As a kitten, + she would play with them by the hour, if not taken away, and + go to sleep cuddled affectionately around them. She got over + this as she grew older; but when her first kitten was two or + three months old, remembering the jolly times she used to + have, she would sneak into the dining room and get the rolled + napkins, carry them in her mouth to her infant, and endeavor + with patient anxiety to show him how to play with them. + Throughout nine years of motherhood she went through the same + performance with every kitten she had. They never knew what + to do with the napkins, or cared to know, and would have none + of them. But she never got discouraged. She would climb up on + the sideboard, or into the china closet, and even try to get + into drawers where the napkins were laid away in their rings. + If she could get hold of one, she would carry it with literal + groans and evident travail of spirit to her kitten, and by + further groans and admonitions seem to say:— + </p> + <p> + "Child, see this beautiful plaything I have brought you. This + is a part of your education; it is just as necessary for you + to know how to play with this as to poke your paw under the + closet door properly. Wake up, now, and play with it." + </p> + <p> + Sometimes, when the table was laid over night, we used to + hear her anguished groans in the stillness of the night. In + the morning every napkin belonging to the family would be + found in a different part of the house, and perhaps a ring + would be missing. These periods, however, only lasted as + long, in each new kitten's training, as the few weeks that + she had amused herself with them at their age. Then she would + drop the subject, and napkins had no further interest than + the man in the moon until another kitten arrived at the age + when she considered them a necessary part of his education. + </p> + <p> + Professor Shaler in his interesting book on the intelligence + of animals gives the cat only the merest mention, intimating + that he considers them below par in this respect, and showing + little real knowledge of them. I wish he might have known the + Pretty Lady. + </p> + <p> + Once our Lady Betty had four little Angora kittens. She was + probably the most aristocratic cat in the country, for she + kept a wet nurse. Poor Jane, of commoner strain, had two + small kittens the day after the Angora family appeared. + Jane's plebeian infants promptly disappeared, but she took + just as promptly to the more aristocratic family and + fulfilled the duties of nurse and maid. Both cats and four + kittens occupied the same bureau drawer, and when either cat + wanted the fresh air she left the other in charge; and there + was a tacit understanding between them that the fluffy, fat + babies must never be left alone one instant. Four small and + lively kittens in the house are indeed things of beauty, and + a joy as long as they last. Four fluffy little Angora balls + they were Chin, Chilla, Buffie, and Orange Pekoe, names that + explain their color. And Jane, wet nurse and waiting-maid, + had to keep as busy as the old woman that lived in a shoe. + Jane it was who must look after the infants when Lady Betty + wished to leave the house. Jane it was who must scrub the + furry quartet until their silky fur stood up in bunches the + wrong way all over their chubby little sides; Jane must sleep + with them nights, and be ready to furnish sustenance at any + moment of day or night; and above all, Jane must watch them + anxiously and incessantly in waking hours, uttering those + little protesting murmurs of admonition which mother cats + deem so necessary toward the proper training of kittens. And, + poor Jane! As lady's maid she must bathe Lady Betty's brow + every now and then, as the more finely strung Angora + succumbed to the nervous strain of kitten-rearing, and she + turned affectionately to Jane for comfort. A prettier sight, + or a more profitable study of the love of animals for each + other was never seen than Lady Betty, her infants, and her + nurse-maid. And yet, there are people who pronounce cats + stupid. + </p> + <p> + One evening I returned from the theatre late and roused up + the four fluffy kittens, who, seeing the gas turned on, + started in for a frolic. The lady mother did not approve of + midnight carousals on the part of infants, and protested with + mild wails against their joyful caperings. Finally, Orange + Pekoe got into the closet and Lady Betty pursued him. But + suddenly a strange odor was detected. Sitting on her haunches + she smelled all over the bottom of the skirt which had just + been hung up, stopping every few seconds to utter a little + worried note of warning to the kittens. The infants, however, + displayed a quite human disregard of parental authority and + gambolled on unconcernedly under the skirt; reminding one of + the old New England primer style of tales, showing how + disobedient children flaunt themselves in the face of danger, + despite the judicious advice of their elders. Lady Betty + could do nothing with them, and grew more nervous and worried + every minute in consequence. Suddenly she bethought herself + of that never-failing source of strength and comfort, Jane. + She went into the next room, and, although I had not heard a + sound, returned in a moment with the maltese. Jane was + ushered into the closet, and soon scented out the skirt. Then + she too sat on her haunches and gave a long, careful sniff, + turned round and uttered one "purr-t-t," and took the Angora + off with her. Jane had discovered that there was no element + of danger in the closet, and had imparted her knowledge to + the finely strung Angora in an instant. And so, taking her + back to bed, she "bathed her brow" with gentle lappings until + Lady Betty sank off to quiet sleep, soothed and comforted. + </p> + <p> + It is not easy to study a cat. They are like sensitive + plants, and shut themselves instinctively away from the human + being who does not care for them. They know when a man or a + woman loves them, almost before they come into the human + presence; and it is almost useless for the unsympathetic + person to try to study a cat. But the thousands who do love + cats know that they are the most individual animals in the + world. Dogs are much alike in their love for mankind, their + obedience, faithfulness, and, in different degrees, their + sagacity. But there is as much individuality in cats as in + people. + </p> + <p> + Dogs and horses are our slaves; cats never. This does not + prove them without affection, as some people seem to think; + on the contrary, it proves their peculiar and characteristic + dignity and self-respect. Women, poets, and especially + artists, like cats; delicate natures only can realize their + sensitive nervous systems. + </p> + <p> + The Pretty Lady's mother talked almost incessantly when she + was in the house. One of her habits was to get on the + window-seat outside and demand to be let in. If she was not + waited upon immediately, she would, when the door was finally + opened, stop when halfway in and scold vigorously. The tones + of her voice and the expression of her face were so exactly + like those of a scolding, vixenish woman that she caused many + a hearty laugh by her tirades. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Erastus, however, seldom utters a sound, and at the + rare intervals when he condescends to purr, he can only be + heard by holding one's ear close to his great, soft sides. + But he has the most remarkable ways. He will open every door + in the house from the inside; he will even open blinds, + getting his paw under the fastening and working patiently at + it, with his body on the blind itself, until the hook flies + back and it finally opens. One housekeeper trained him to eat + his meat close up in one corner of the kitchen. This custom + he kept up after she went away, until new and uncommonly + frisky kittens annoyed him so that his place was transferred + to the top of an old table. When he got hungry in those days, + however, he used to go and crowd close up in his corner and + look so pathetically famished that food was generally + forthcoming at once. Thomas was formerly very much devoted to + the lady who lived next door, and was as much at home in her + house as in ours. Her family rose an hour or two earlier than + ours in the morning, and their breakfast hour came first. I + should attribute Thomas's devotion to Mrs. T. to this fact, + since he invariably presented himself at her dining-room + window and wheedled her into feeding him, were it not that + his affection seemed just as strong throughout the day. It + was interesting to see him go over and rattle her screen + doors, front, back, or side, knowing perfectly well that he + would bring some one to open and let him in. + </p> + <p> + Thomas has a really paternal air toward the rest of the + family. One spring night, as usual on retiring, I went to the + back door to call in the cats. Thomas Erastus was in my + sister's room, but none of the others were to be seen; nor + did they come at once, evidently having strayed in their play + beyond the sound of my voice. Thomas, upstairs, heard my + continued call and tried for some time to get out. M. had + shut her door, thinking to keep in the one already safe. But + the more I called, the more persistently determined he became + to get out. At last M. opened her window and let him on to + the sloping roof of the "L," from which he could descend + through a gnarled old apple tree. Meanwhile I left the back + door and went on with my preparations for the night. About + ten minutes later I went and called the cats again. It was a + moonlight night and I saw six delinquent cats coming in a + flock across the open field behind the house,—all + marshalled by Mr. Thomas. He evidently hunted them up and + called them in himself; then he sat on the back porch and + waited until the last kit was safely in, before he stalked + gravely in with an air which said as plainly as words:— + </p> + <p> + "There, it takes <i>me</i> to do anything with this family." + </p> + <p> + None of my cats would think of responding to the call of + "Kitty, Kitty," or "Puss, Puss." They are early taught their + names and answer to them. Neither would one answer to the + name of another, except in occasional instances where + jealousy prompts them to do so. We have to be most careful + when we go out of an evening, not to let Thomas Erastus get + out at the same time. In case he does, he will follow us + either to the railroad station or to the electric cars and + wait in some near-by nook until we come back. I have known + him to sit out from seven until midnight of a cold, snowy + winter evening, awaiting our return from the theatre. When we + alight from the cars he is nowhere to be seen. But before we + have gone many steps, lo! Thomas Erastus is behind or beside + us, proudly escorting his mistresses home, but looking + neither at them, nor to the right or left. Not until he + reaches the porch does he allow himself to be petted. But on + our way to the cars his attitude is different. He is as + frisky as a kitten. In vain do we try to "shoo" him back, or + catch him. He prances along, just out of reach, but + tantalizingly close; when we get aboard our car, we know he + is safe in some corner gazing sadly after us, and that no + danger can drive him home until we reappear. + </p> + <p> + Both Thomas and Pompanita take a deep interest in all + household affairs, although in this respect they do not begin + to show the curiosity of the Pretty Lady. Never a piece of + furniture was changed in he house that she did not + immediately notice, the first time she came into the room + afterward; and she invariably jumped up on the article and + thoroughly investigated affairs before settling down again. + Every parcel that came in must be examined, and afterward she + must lie on the paper or inside the box that it came in, + always doing this with great solemnity and gazing earnestly + out of her large, intelligent dark eyes. Toward the close of + her life she was greatly troubled at any unusual stir in the + household. She liked to have company, but nothing disturbed + her more than to have a man working in the cellar, putting in + coal, cutting wood, or doing such work. She used then to + follow us uneasily about and look earnestly up into our + faces, as if to say:— + </p> + <p> + "Girls, this is not right. Everything is all upset here and + 'a' the world's gang agley.' Why don't you fix it?" + </p> + <p> + She was the politest creature, too. That was the reason of + her name. In her youth she was christened "Pansy"; then + "Cleopatra," "Susan," "Lady Jane Grey" and the "Duchess." But + her manners were so punctiliously perfect, and she was such a + "pretty lady" always and everywhere; moreover she had such a + habit of sitting with her hands folded politely across her + gentle, lace-vandyked bosom that the only sobriquet that ever + clung was the one that expressed herself the most perfectly. + She was in every sense a "Pretty Lady." For years she ate + with us at the table. Her chair was placed next to mine, and + no matter where she was or how soundly she had been sleeping, + when the dinner bell rang she was the first to get to her + seat. Then she sat patiently until I fixed a dainty meal in a + saucer and placed it in the chair beside her, when she ate it + in the same well-bred way she did everything. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Erastus hurt his foot one day. Rather he got it hurt + during a matutinal combat at which he was forced, being the + head of the family, to be present, although he is far above + the midnight carousals of his kind. Thomas Erastus sometimes + loves to consider himself an invalid. When his doting + mistress was not looking, he managed to step off on that foot + quite lively, especially if his mortal enemy, a disreputable + black tramp, skulked across the yard. But let Thomas Erastus + see a feminine eye gazing anxiously at him through an open + window, and he immediately hobbled on three legs; then he + would stop and sit down and assume so pathetic an expression + of patient suffering that the mistress's heart would melt, + and Thomas Erastus would find himself being borne into the + house and placed on the softest sofa. Once she caught him + down cellar. There is a window to which he has easy access, + and where he can go in and out a hundred times a day. + Evidently he had planned to do so at that moment. But seeing + his fond mistress, he sat down on the cellar floor, and with + his most fetching expression gazed wistfully back and forth + from her to the window. And of course she picked him up + carefully and put him on the window ledge. Thomas Erastus has + all the innocent guile of a successful politician. He could + manage things slicker than the political bosses, an' he + would. + </p> + <p> + One summer Thomas Erastus moved—an event of + considerable importance in his placid existence. He had to + travel a short distance on the steam-cars; and worse, he + needs must endure the indignity of travelling that distance + in a covered basket. But his dignity would not suffer him to + do more than send forth one or two mournful wails of protest. + After being kept in his new house for a couple of days, he + was allowed to go out and become familiar with his + surroundings—not without fear and trepidation on the + part of his doting mistress that he might make a bold strike + for his former home. But Thomas Erastus felt he had a mission + to perform for his race. He would disprove that mistaken + theory that a cat, no matter how kindly he is treated, cares + more for places than for people. Consequently he would not + dream of going back to his old haunts. + </p> + <p> + No; he sat down in the front yard and took a long look at his + surroundings, the neighboring lots, a field of grass, a + waving corn-field. He had already convinced himself that the + new house was home, because in it were all the old familiar + things, and he had been allowed to investigate every bit of + it and to realize what had happened. So after looking well + about him he made a series of tours of investigation. First, + he took a bee-line for the farthest end of the nearest vacant + lot; then he chose the corn-field; then the beautiful broad + grounds of the neighbor below; then across the street; but + between each of these little journeys he took a bee-line back + to his starting-point, sat down in front of the new house, + and "got his bearings," just as evidently as though he could + have said out loud, "This is my home and I mustn't lose it." + In this way he convinced himself that where he lives is the + centre of the universe, and that the world revolves around + him. And he has since been as happy as a cricket,—yea, + happier, for death and destruction await the unfortunate + cricket where Thomas Erastus thrives. + </p> + <p> + But don't say a cat can't or won't be moved. It's your own + fault if he won't. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH3"><!-- CH3 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + </center> + <p> + Every observing reader of Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford's + stories knows that she is fond of cats and understands them. + Her heroines usually have, among other feminine belongings + and accessories, one or more cats. "Four great Persian cats + haunted her every footstep," she says of Honor, in the + "Composite Wife." "A sleepy, snowy creature like some + half-animated ostrich plume; a satanic thing with fiery eyes + that to Mr. Chipperley's perception were informed with the + very bottomless flames; another like a golden fleece, + caressing, half human; and a little mouse-colored imp whose + bounds and springs and feathery tail-lashings not only did + infinite damage among the Venetian and Dresden + knick-knackerie, but among Mr. Chipperley's nerves." + </p> + <p> + In her beautiful, old-fashioned home at Newburyport, Mass., + she has two beloved cats. But I will not attempt to improve + on her own account of them:— + </p> + <p> + "As for my own cats,—their name has been legion, + although a few remain preeminent. There was Miss Spot who + came to us already named, preferring our domicile to the + neighboring one she had. Her only son was so black that he + was known as Ink Spot, but her only daughter was so + altogether ideal and black, too, that she was known as Beauty + Spot. Beauty Spot led a sorrowful life, and was fortunately + born clothed in black or her mourning would have been + expensive, as she was always in a bereaved condition, her + drowned offspring making a shoal in the Merrimac, although + she had always plenty left. She solaced herself with music. + She would never sit in any one's lap but mine, and in mine + only when I sang; and then only when I sang 'The Last Rose of + Summer.' This is really true. But she would spring into my + husband's lap if he whistled. She would leave her sleep + reluctantly, start a little way, and retreat, start and + retreat again, and then give one bound and light on his knee + or his arm and reach up one paw and push it repeatedly across + his mouth like one playing the jew's-harp; I suppose to get + at the sound. She always went to walk with us and followed us + wherever we went about the island. + </p> + <p> + "Lucifer and Phosphor have been our cats for the last ten + years: Lucifer, entirely black, Phosphor, as yellow as + saffron, a real golden fleece. My sister lived in town and + going away for the summer left her cat in a neighbor's care, + and the neighbor moved away meanwhile and left the cat to + shift for herself. She went down to the apothecary's, two + blocks away or more. There she had a family of kittens, but + apparently came up to reconnoitre, for on my sister's return, + she appeared with one kitten and laid it down at Kate's feet; + ran off, and in time came with another which she left also, + and so on until she had brought up the whole household. + Lucifer was one of them. + </p> + <p> + "He was as black as an imp and as mischievous as one. His + bounds have always been tremendous: from the floor to the + high mantel, or to the top of a tall buffet close under the + ceiling. And these bounds of his, together with a way he has + of gazing into space with his soulful and enormous yellow + eyes, have led to a thousand tales as to his nightly + journeyings among the stars; hurting his foot slumping + through the nebula in Andromeda; getting his supper at a + place in the milky way, hunting all night with Orion, and + having awful fights with Sirius. He got his throat cut by + alighting on the North Pole one night, coming down from the + stars. The reason he slumps through the nebula is on account + of his big feet; he has six toes (like the foot in George + Augustus Sala's drawing) and when he walks on the top of the + piazza you would think it was a burglar. + </p> + <p> + "Lucifer's Mephistophelian aspect is increased not only by + those feet, but by an arrow-pointed tail. He sucks his + tail,—alas, and alas! In vain have we peppered it, and + pepper-sauced it, and dipped it in Worcestershire sauce and + in aloes, and done it up in curl papers, and glued on it the + fingers of old gloves. At last we gave it up in despair, and + I took him and put his tail in his mouth and told him to take + his pleasure,—and that is the reason, I suppose, that + he attaches himself particularly to me. He is very + near-sighted with those magnificent orbs, for he will jump + into any one's lap, who wears a black gown, but jump down + instantly, and when he finds my lap curl down for a brief + season. But he is not much of a lap-loving cat. He puts up + his nose and smells my face all over in what he means for a + caress, and is off. He is not a large eater, although he has + been known to help himself to a whole steak at the table, + being alone in the dining room; and when poultry are in the + larder he is insistent till satisfied. But he wants his + breakfast early. If the second girl, whose charge he is, does + not rise in season, he mounts two flights of stairs and seats + himself on her chest until she does rise. Then if she does + not wait on him at once, he goes into the drawing-room, and + springs to the top of the upright piano, and deliberately + knocks off the bric-a-brac, particularly loving to encounter + and floor a brass dragon candlestick. Then he springs to the + mantel-shelf if he has not been seized and appeased, and + repeats operations, and has even carried his work of + destruction around the room to the top of a low bookcase and + has proved himself altogether the wrong sort of person in a + china-shop. + </p> + <p> + "However, it is conceded in the family that Phosphor is not a + cat merely: he is a person, and Lucifer is a spirit. Lucifer + seldom purrs—I wonder if that is a characteristic of + black cats?" [No; my black cats fairly roar.] "A little + thread of sound, and only now and then, when very happy and + loving, a rich, full strain. But Phosphor purrs like a + windmill, like an electric car, like a tea-kettle, like a + whole boiled dinner. When Phosphor came, Lucifer, six weeks + her senior (Phosphor's excellencies always incline one to say + 'she' of him), thought the little live yellow ball was made + only for him to play with, and he cuffed and tossed him + around for all he was worth, licked him all over twenty times + a day, and slept with his arms about him. During those early + years Phosphor never washed himself, Lucifer took such care + of him, and they were a lovely sight in each other's arms + asleep. But of late years a coolness has intervened, and now + they never speak as they pass by. They sometimes go fishing + together, Lucifer walking off majestically alone, always + dark, mysterious, reticent, intent on his own affairs, making + you feel that he has a sort of lofty contempt for yours. + Sometimes, the mice depositing a dead fish in the crannies of + the rocks, Lucifer appears with it in the twilight, gleaming + silver-white in his jaws, and the great eyes gleaming like + fire-balls above it. Phosphor is, however, a mighty hunter: + mice, rats by the score, chipmunks,—all is game that + comes to his net. He has cleaned out whole colonies of + catbirds (for their insolence), and eaten every golden robin + on the island. + </p> + <p> + "It used to be very pretty to see them, when they were + little, as El Mahdi, the peacock, spread his great tail, dart + and spring upon it, and go whirling round with it as El + Mahdi, fairly frantic with the little demons that had hold of + him, went skipping and springing round and round. But + although so fierce a fighter, so inhospitable to every other + cat, Phosphor is the most affectionate little soul. He is + still very playful, though so large, and last summer to see + him bounding on the grass, playing with his tail, turning + somersaults all by himself, was quite worth while. When we + first happened to go away in his early years he wouldn't + speak to us when we came back, he felt so neglected. I went + away for five months once, before Lucifer was more than a + year old. He got into no one's lap while I was gone, but the + moment I sat down on my return, he jumped into mine, saluted + me, and curled himself down for a nap, showing the plainest + recognition. Now when one comes back, Phosphor is wild with + joy—always in a well-bred way. He will get into your + arms and on your shoulder and rub his face around, and before + you know it his little mouth is in the middle of your mouth + as much like a kiss as anything can be. Perhaps it isn't so + well bred, but his motions are so quick and perfect it seems + so. When you let him in he curls into heaps of joy, and + fairly stands on his head sometimes. He is the most + responsive creature, always ready for a caress, and his wild, + great amber eyes beam love, if ever love had manifestation. + His beauty is really extraordinary; his tail a real wonder. + Lucifer, I grieve to say, looks very moth-eaten. Phosphor + wore a bell for a short time once—a little Inch-Cape + Rock bell—but he left it to toll all winter in a tall + tree near the drawing-room window. + </p> + <p> + "A charm of cats is that they seem to live in a world of + their own, just as much as if it were a real dimension of + space; and speaking of a fourth dimension, I am living in the + expectation that the new discoveries in the matter of radiant + energy will presently be revealing to all our senses the fact + that there is no death. + </p> + <p> + "We had some barn kittens once that lived in the hen-house, + ate with the hens, and quarrelled with them for any tidbit. + They curled up in the egg boxes and didn't move when the hens + came to lay, and evidently had no idea that they were not + hens. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, there is no end to the cat situation. It began with the + old fellow who put his hand under the cat to lift her up, and + she arched her back higher and higher until he found it was + the serpent Asgard, and it won't end with you and me. I don't + know but she <i>is</i> the serpent Asgard. I don't know if + you have hypnotized or magnetized me, but I am writing as if + I had known you intimately all my life, and feel as though I + had. It is the freemasonry of cats. I always said they were + possessed of spirits, and they use white magic to bring their + friends together." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Spofford's "barn kittens" bring to mind an incident + related by Mrs. Wood, the beautiful wife of Professor C.G. + Wood, of the Harvard Medical School. At their summer place on + Buzzard's Bay she has fifteen cats, mostly Angoras, Persians, + and coons, with several dogs. These cats follow her all about + the place in a regular troop, and a very handsome troop they + are, with their waving, plumy tails tipped gracefully over at + the ends as if saluting their superior officer. Among the + dogs is a spaniel named Gyp that is particularly friendly + with the cats. There are plenty of hens on the farm, and one + spring a couple of bantams were added to the stock. The cats + immediately took a great fancy to these diminutive bipeds, + and watched them with the greatest interest. Finally the + little hen had a flock of chickens. As the weather was still + cold, the farmer put them upstairs in one of the barns, and + every day Gyp would take seven or eight of those cats up + there to see the fluffy little things. Dog and cats would + seat themselves around the bantam and her brood and watch + them by the hour, never offering to touch the chickens except + when the little things were tired and went for a nap under + their mother's wings; and then some cat—first one and + then another—would softly poke its paw under the hen + and stir up the family, making them all run out in + consternation, and keeping things lively once more. The cats + didn't dream of catching the chickens, only wanting, + evidently, that they should emulate Joey and keep moving on. + </p> + <p> + A writer in the <i>London Spectator</i> tells of a favorite + bantam hen with which the house cat has long been accustomed + to play. This bantam has increased and multiplied, and keeps + her family in a "coop" on the ground,—into which rats + easily enter. At bedtime, however, pussy takes up her + residence there, and bantam, the brood of chickens, and pussy + sleep in happy harmony nightly. If any rats arrive, their + experience must be sad and sharp. Another writer in the same + number tells of a cat in Huddersfield, England, belonging to + Canon Beardsley, who helps himself to a reel of cotton from + the work-basket, takes it on the floor, and plays with it as + long as he likes, and then jumps up and puts the reel back in + its place again; just as our Bobinette used to get his + tape-measure, although the latter never was known to put it + away. + </p> + <p> + Miss Sarah Orne Jewett is a cat-lover, too, and the dear old + countrywomen "down in Maine," with whom one gets acquainted + through her books, usually keep a cat also. Says she:— + </p> + <p> + "I look back over so long a line of family cats, from a + certain poor Spotty who died an awful death in a fit on the + flagstones under the library window when I was less than five + years old, to a lawless, fluffy, yellow and white coon cat + now in my possession, that I find it hard to single out the + most interesting pussy of all. I shall have to speak of two + cats at least, one being the enemy and the other the friend + of my dog Joe. Joe and I grew up together and were fond + companions, until he died of far too early old age and left + me to take my country walks alone. + </p> + <p> + "Polly, the enemy, was the best mouser of all: quite the best + business cat we ever had, with an astonishing intellect and a + shrewd way of gaining her ends. She caught birds and mice as + if she foraged for our whole family: she had an air of + responsibility and a certain impatience of interruption and + interference such as I have never seen in any other cat, and + a scornful way of sitting before a person with fierce eyes + and a quick, ominous twitching of her tail. She seemed to be + measuring one's incompetence as a mouse-catcher in these + moments, or to be saying to herself, 'What a clumsy, stupid + person; how little she knows, and how I should like to + scratch her and hear her squeak.' I sometimes felt as if I + were a larger sort of helpless mouse in these moments, but + sometimes Polly would be more friendly, and even jump into + our laps, when it was a pleasure to pat her hard little head + with its exquisitely soft, dark tortoise-shell fur. No matter + if she almost always turned and caught the caressing hand + with teeth and claws, when she was tired of its touch, you + would always be ready to pat her next time; there was such a + fascination about her that any attention on her part gave a + thrill of pride and pleasure. Every guest and stranger + admired her and tried to win her favor: while we of the + household hid our wounds and delighted in her cleverness and + beauty. + </p> + <p> + "Polly was but a small cat to have a mind. She looked quite + round and kittenish as she sat before the fire in a rare + moment of leisure, with her black paws tucked under her white + breast and her sleek back looking as if it caught flickers of + firelight in some yellow streaks among the shiny black fur. + But when she walked abroad she stretched out long and thin + like a little tiger, and held her head high to look over the + grass as if she were threading the jungle. She lashed her + tail to and fro, and one turned out of her way instantly. You + opened a door for her if she crossed the room and gave you a + look. She made you know what she meant as if she had the gift + of speech: at most inconvenient moments you would go out + through the house to find her a bit of fish or to open the + cellar door. You recognized her right to appear at night on + your bed with one of her long-suffering kittens, which she + had brought in the rain, out of a cellar window and up a + lofty ladder, over the wet, steep roofs and down through a + scuttle into the garret, and still down into warm shelter. + Here she would leave it and with one or two loud, admonishing + purrs would scurry away upon some errand that must have been + like one of the border frays of old. + </p> + <p> + "She used to treat Joe, the dog, with sad cruelty, giving him + a sharp blow on his honest nose that made him meekly stand + back and see her add his supper to her own. A child visitor + once rightly complained that Polly had pins in her toes, and + nobody knew this better than poor Joe. At last, in despair, + he sought revenge. I was writing at my desk one day, when he + suddenly appeared, grinning in a funny way he had, and + wagging his tail, until he enticed me out to the kitchen. + There I found Polly, who had an air of calling everything in + the house her own. She was on the cook's table, gobbling away + at some chickens which were being made ready for the oven and + had been left unguarded. I caught her and cuffed her, and she + fled through the garden door, for once tamed and vanquished, + though usually she was so quick that nobody could administer + justice upon these depredations of a well-fed cat. Then I + turned and saw poor old Joe dancing about the kitchen in + perfect delight. He had been afraid to touch Polly himself, + but he knew the difference between right and wrong, and had + called me to see what a wicked cat she was, and to give him + the joy of looking on at the flogging. + </p> + <p> + "It was the same dog who used sometimes to be found under a + table where his master had sent him for punishment in his + young days of lawless puppy-hood for chasing the neighbor's + chickens. These faults had long been overcome, but sometimes, + in later years, Joe's conscience would trouble him, we never + knew why, and he would go under the table of his own accord, + and look repentant and crestfallen until some forgiving and + sympathetic friend would think he had suffered enough and bid + him come out to be patted and consoled. + </p> + <p> + "After such a house-mate as Polly, Joe had great amends in + our next cat, yellow Danny, the most amiable and friendly + pussy that ever walked on four paws. He took Danny to his + heart at once: they used to lie in the sun together with + Danny's head on the dog's big paws, and I sometimes used to + meet them walking as coy as lovers, side by side, up one of + the garden walks. When I could not help laughing at their + sentimental and conscious air, they would turn aside into the + bushes for shelter. They respected each other's suppers, and + ate together on the kitchen hearth, and took great comfort in + close companionship. Danny always answered if you spoke to + him, but he made no sound while always opening his mouth wide + to mew whenever he had anything to say, and looking up into + your face with all his heart expressed. These affectations of + speech were most amusing, especially in so large a person as + yellow Danny. He was much beloved by me and by all his + family, especially poor Joe, who must sometimes have had the + worst of dreams about old Polly, and her sharp, unsparing + claws." + </p> + <p> + Miss Mary E. Wilkins is also a great admirer of cats. "I + adore cats," she says. "I don't love them as well as dogs, + because my own nature is more after the lines of a dog's; but + I adore them. No matter how tired or wretched I am, a + pussy-cat sitting in a doorway can divert my mind. Cats love + one so much: more than they will allow; but they have so much + wisdom they keep it to themselves." + </p> + <p> + Miss Wilkins's "Augustus" was moved with her from + Brattleboro, Vt., after her father's death and when she went + to Randolph, Mass., to live. He had been the pet of the + family for a long time, but he came to an untimely end. + </p> + <p> + "I hope," says Miss Wilkins, "people's unintentional cruelty + will not be remembered against them." Since living in + Randolph she has had two lovely yellow and white cats, "Punch + and Judy." The latter was shot by a neighbor, but Punch, the + right-hand cat with the angelic expression, still survives. + </p> + <p> + "I am quite sure," says his mistress, "he loves me better + than anybody else, although he is so very close about it. + Punch Wilkins has one accomplishment. He can open a door with + an old-fashioned latch: but he cannot shut it." + </p> + <p> + Louise Imogen Guiney is famous for her love and good + comradeship with dogs, especially her setters and St. + Bernards, but she is too thoroughly a poet not to be + captivated by the grace and beauty of a cat. + </p> + <p> + "I love the unsubmissive race," she says, "and have had much + edification out of the charming friendships between our St. + Bernards and our cats. Annie Clarke [the actress] once gave + me two exquisite Angoras, little persons of character equal + to their looks; but they died young and we have not since had + the heart to replace them. I once had another coon, a small, + spry, gray fellow named Scot, the tamest and most endearing + of pets, always on your shoulder and a' that, who suddenly, + on no provocation whatever, turned wild, lived for a year or + more in the woods next our garden, hunting and fishing, + although ceaselessly chased, and called, and implored to + revisit his afflicted family. He associated sometimes with + the neighbor's cat, but never, never more with humanity, + until finally we found his pathetic little frozen body one + Christmas near the barn. Do you remember Arnold's Scholar + Gypsy? Our Scot was his feline equivalent.... Have you + counted in Prosper Merimée among the confirmed lovers + of cats? I remember a delightful little paragraph out of one + of his letters about <i>un vieux chat noir, parfaitement + laid, mais plein d'ésprit et de discrétion. + Seulement il n'a eu que des gens vulgaires et manque + d'usage.</i>" + </p> + <p> + Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney, who has written so many helpful stories + for girls, is another lover of cats. Cats do not lie curled + up on cushions everywhere in her books, as they do in Mrs. + Spofford's. But in "Zerub Throop's Experiment" there is an + amusing cat story, which, she declares, got so much mixed up + with a ghost story that nobody ever knew which was which. And + the incident is true in every particular, except the finding + of a will or codicil, or something at the end, which is + attached for purposes of fiction. + </p> + <p> + A great deal has been written about the New York <i>Sun's</i> + famous cats. At my request, Mr. Dana furnished the following + description of the interesting <i>Sun</i> family. I can only + vouch for its veracity by quoting the famous phrase, "If you + see it in the <i>Sun</i>, it is so." + </p> + <p> + "<i>Sun</i> office cat (<i>Felis Domestica; var. + Journalistica</i>). This is a variation of the common + domestic cat, of which but one family is known to science. + The habitat of the species is in Newspaper Row; its lair is + in the <i>Sun</i> building, its habits are nocturnal, and it + feeds on discarded copy and anything else of a + pseudo-literary nature upon which it can pounce. In dull + times it can subsist upon a meagre diet of telegraphic + brevities, police court paragraphs, and city jottings; but + when the universe is agog with news, it will exhibit the + insatiable appetite which is its chief distinguishing mark of + difference from the common <i>felis domestica</i>. A single + member of this family has been known, on a 'rush' night, to + devour three and a half columns of presidential + possibilities, seven columns of general politics, pretty much + all but the head of a large and able-bodied railroad + accident, and a full page of miscellaneous news, and then + claw the nether garments of the managing editor, and call + attention to an appetite still in good working order. + </p> + <p> + "The progenitrix of the family arrived in the <i>Sun</i> + office many years ago, and installed herself in a comfortable + corner, and within a few short months she had noticeably + raised the literary tone of the paper, as well as a large and + vociferous family of kittens. These kittens were weaned on + reports from country correspondents, and the sight of the six + children and the mother cat sitting in a semicircle was one + which attracted visitors from all parts of the nation. Just + before her death—immediately before, in fact—the + mother cat developed a literary taste of her own and drank + the contents of an ink-bottle. She was buried with literary + honors, and one of her progeny was advanced to the duties and + honors of office cat. From this time the line came down, each + cat taking the 'laurel greener from the brows of him that + uttered nothing base,' upon the death of his predecessor. + There is but one blot upon the escutcheon of the family, put + there by a recent incumbent who developed a mania at once + cannibalistic and infanticidal, and set about making a free + lunch of her offspring, in direct violation of the Raines law + and the maternal instinct. She died of an overdose of + chloroform, and her place was taken by one of the rescued + kittens. + </p> + <p> + "It is the son of this kitten who is the present proud + incumbent of the office. Grown to cat-hood, he is a + creditable specimen of his family, with beryl eyes, beautiful + striped fur, showing fine mottlings of mucilage and ink, a + graceful and aspiring tail, an appetite for copy unsurpassed + in the annals of his race, and a power and perseverance in + vocality, chiefly exercised in the small hours of the + morning, that, together with the appetite referred to, have + earned for him the name of the Mutilator. The picture + herewith given was taken when the animal was a year and a + half old. Up to the age of one year the Mutilator made its + lair in the inside office with the Snake Editor, until a + tragic ending came to their friendship. During a fortnight's + absence of the office cat upon important business, the Snake + Editor cultivated the friendship of three cockroaches, whom + he debauched by teaching them to drink beer spilled upon his + desk for that purpose. On the night of the cat's return, the + three bugs had become disgracefully intoxicated, and were + reeling around the desk beating time with their legs to a + rollicking catch sung by the Snake Editor. Before the muddled + insects could crawl into a crack, the Mutilator was upon + them, and had bolted every one. Then with a look of reproach + at the Snake Editor, he drew three perpendicular red lines + across that gentleman's features with his claws and departed + in high scorn, nor could he ever thereafter be lured into the + inner office where the serpent-sharp was laying for him with + a space measure. Since that time he has lived in the room + occupied by the reporters and news editors. + </p> + <p> + "Many hundreds of stories, some of them slanderous have been + told about the various <i>Sun</i> office cats, but we have + admitted here none of these false tales. The short sketch + given here is beyond suspicion in all its details, as can be + vouched for by many men of high position who ought to know + better." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH4"><!-- CH4 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING STILL OTHER PEOPLE'S CATS + </center> + <p> + The nearest approach to the real French Salon in America is + said to be found in Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton's Boston + drawing-room. In former days, at her weekly Fridays, Sir + Richard Coeur de Lion was always present, sitting on the + square piano amidst a lot of other celebrities. The + autographed photographs of Paderewski, John Drew, and + distinguished litterateurs, however, used to lose nothing + from the proximity of Mrs. Moulton's favorite maltese friend, + who was on the most intimate terms with her for twelve years, + and hobnobbed familiarly with most of the lions of one sort + or another who have visited Boston and who invariably find + their way into this room. If there were flowers on the piano, + Richard's nose hovered near them in a perfect abandon of + delight. Indeed, his fondness for flowers was a source of + constant contention between him and his mistress, who feared + lest he knock the souvenirs of foreign countries to the floor + in his eagerness to climb wherever flowers were put. He was + as dainty about his eating as in his taste for the beautiful, + scorning beef and mutton as fit only for coarser mortals, and + choosing, like any <i>gourmet</i>, to eat only the breast of + chicken, or certain portions of fish or lobster. He was not + proof against the flavor of liver, at any time; but + recognized in it his one weakness,—as the delicate lady + may who takes snuff or chews gum on the sly. When Mrs. + Moulton first had him, she had also a little dog, and the + two, as usual when a kitten is brought up with a dog, became + the greatest of friends. + </p> + <p> + That Richard was a close observer was proved by the way he + used to wag his tail, in the same fashion and apparently for + the same reasons as the dog. This went on for several years, + but when the dog died, the fashion of wagging tails went out, + so far as Richard Coeur de Lion was concerned. + </p> + <p> + He had a fashion of getting up on mantels, the tops of + bookcases, or on shelves; and his mistress, fearing + demolition of her household Lares and Penates, insisted on + his getting down, whereupon Richard would look reproachfully + at her, apparently resenting this treatment for days + afterward, refusing to come near her and edging off if she + tried to make up with him. + </p> + <p> + When Richard was getting old, a black cat came to Mrs. + Moulton, who kept him "for luck," and named him the Black + Prince. The older cat was always jealous of the newcomer, and + treated him with lofty scorn. When he caught Mrs. Moulton + petting the Black Prince, who is a very affectionate fellow + Richard fiercely resented it and sometimes refused to have + anything to do with her for days afterward, but finally came + around and made up in shamefaced fashion. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Moulton goes to London usually in the summer, leaving + the cats in the care of a faithful maid whom she has had for + years. After she sailed, Richard used to come to her door for + several mornings, and not being let in as usual, understood + that his beloved mistress had left him again, whereupon he + kept up a prolonged wailing for some time. He was + correspondingly glad to see her on her return in October. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Moulton tells the following remarkable cat story:— + </p> + <p> + "My mother had a cat that lived to be twenty-five years old. + He was faithful and fond, and a great pet in the family, of + course. About two years before his death, a new kitten was + added to the family. This kitten, named Jim, immediately + conceived the greatest affection for old Jack, and as the old + fellow's senses of sight and smell failed so that he could + not go hunting himself, Jim used to do it for both. Every day + he brought Jack mice and squirrels and other game as long as + he lived. Then, too, he used to wash Jack, lapping him all + over as a mother cat does her kitten. He did this, too, as + long as he lived. The feebler old Jack grew the more Jim did + for him, and when Jack finally died of old age, Jim was + inconsolable." + </p> + <p> + Twenty-five years might certainly be termed a ripe old age + for a cat, their average life extending only to ten or twelve + years. But I have heard of one who seems to have attained + even greater age. The mother of Jane Andrews, the writer on + educational and juvenile subjects, had one who lived with + them twenty-four years. He had peculiar markings and certain + ways of his own about the house quite different from other + cats. He disappeared one day when he was twenty-four, and was + mourned as dead. But one day, some six or seven years later, + an old cat came to their door and asked to be let in. He had + the same markings, and on being let in, went directly to his + favorite sleeping-places and lay down. He seemed perfectly + familiar with the whole place, and went on with his life from + that time, just as though he had never been away, showing all + his old peculiarities. When he finally died, he must have + been thirty-three years old. + </p> + <p> + Although in other days a great many noted men have been + devoted to cats, I do not find that our men of letters to-day + know so much about cats. Mr. William Dean Howells says: "I + never had a cat, pet or otherwise. I like them, but know + nothing of them." Judge Robert Grant says, "My feelings + toward cats are kindly and considerate, but not ardent." + </p> + <p> + Thomas Bailey Aldrich says, "The only cat I ever had any + experience with was the one I translated from the French of + Émile de La Bédolliérre many years ago + for the entertainment of my children." [Footnote: "Mother + Michel's Cat."] Brander Matthews loves them not. George W. + Cable answers, when asked if he loves the "harmless, + necessary cat," by the Yankee method, and says, "If you had + three or four acres of beautiful woods in which were little + red squirrels and chipmunks and fifty or more kinds of + nesting birds, and every abutting neighbor kept a cat, and + none of them kept their cat out of those woods—<i>would + you like cats?</i>" which is, indeed, something of a poser. + </p> + <p> + Colonel Thomas W. Higginson, however, confesses to a great + fondness for cats, although he has had no remarkable cats of + his own. He tells a story told him by an old sailor at Pigeon + Cove, Mass., of a cat which he, the sailor, tried in vain to + get rid of. After trying several methods he finally put the + cat in a bag, walked a mile to Lane's Cove, tied the cat to a + big stone with a firm sailor's knot, took it out in a dory + some distance from the shore, and dropped the cat overboard. + Then he went back home to find the cat purring on the + doorstep. + </p> + <p> + Those who are familiar with Charles Dudley Warner's "My + Summer in a Garden" will not need to be reminded of Calvin + and his interesting traits. Mr. Warner says: "I never had but + one cat, and he was rather a friend and companion than a cat. + When he departed this life I did not care to do as many men + do when their partners die, take a 'second.'" The sketch of + him in that delightful book is vouched for as correct. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman, too, is a genuine admirer of + cats and evidently knows how to appreciate them at their true + value. At his home near New York, he and Mrs. Stedman have + one who rejoices in the name "Babylon," having originated in + Babylon, Long Island. He is a fine large maltese, and + attracted a great deal of attention at the New York Cat Show + in 1895. "We look upon him as an important member of our + family," says Mrs. Stedman, "and think he knows as much as + any of us. He despises our two other cats, but he is very + fond of human beings and makes friends readily with + strangers. He is always present at the family dinner table at + meal-time and expects to have his share handed to him + carefully. He has a favorite corner in the study and has + superintended a great deal of literary work." Mrs. Stedman's + long-haired, blue Kelpie took a prize in the show of '95. + </p> + <p> + Gail Hamilton was naturally a lover of cats, although in her + crowded life there was not much time to devote to them. In + the last year of her noble life she wrote to a friend as + follows: "My two hands were eager to lighten the + burden-bearing of a burdened world—but the brush fell + from my hand. Now I can only sit in a nook of November + sunshine, playing with two little black and white kittens. + Well, I never before had time to play with kittens as much as + I wished, and when I come outdoors and see them bounding + toward me in long, light leaps, I am glad that they leap + toward me and not away from me, little soft, fierce sparks of + infinite energy holding a mystery of their own as inscrutable + as life. And I remember that with all our high art, the + common daily sun searches a man for one revealing moment, and + makes a truer portrait than the most laborious painter. The + divine face of our Saviour, reflected in the pure and noble + traits of humanity, will not fail from the earth because my + hand has failed in cunning." + </p> + <p> + One would expect a poet of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's temperament + to be passionately fond of cats, just as she is. One would + expect, too, that only the most beautiful and luxurious of + Persians and Angoras would satisfy her demand for a pet. This + is also justifiable, as she has several magnificent cats, + about whom she has published a number of interesting stories. + Her Madame Ref is quite a noted cat, but Mrs. Wilcox's + favorite and the handsomest of all is named Banjo, a gorgeous + chinchilla and white Angora, with a silken coat that almost + touches the floor and a ruff, or "lord mayor's chain," that + is a finger wide. His father was Ajax, his mother was Madame + Ref, and Mrs. Wilcox raised him. She has taught him many + cunning tricks. He will sit up like a bear, and when his + mistress says, "Hug me, Banjo," he puts both white paws + around her neck and hugs her tight. Then she says, "Turn the + other cheek," and he turns his furry chops for her to kiss. + He also plays "dead," and rolls over at command. He, too, is + fond of literary work, and superintends his mistress's + writing from a drawer of her desk. Goody Two-eyes is another + of Mrs. Wilcox's pets, and has one blue and one topaz eye. + </p> + <p> + Who has not read Agnes Repplier's fascinating essays on + "Agrippina" and "A Kitten"? I cannot quite believe she gives + cats credit for the capacity for affection which they really + possess, but her description of "Agrippina" is + charming:— + </p> + <p> + "Agrippina's beautifully ringed tail flapping across my copy + distracts my attention and imperils the neatness of my + penmanship. Even when she is disposed to be affable, turns + the light of her countenance upon me, watches with attentive + curiosity every stroke I make, and softly, with curved paw, + pats my pen as it travels over the paper, even in these + halcyon moments, though my self-love is flattered by her + condescension, I am aware that I should work better and more + rapidly if I denied myself this charming companionship. But, + in truth, it is impossible for a lover of cats to banish + these alert, gentle, and discriminating little friends, who + give us just enough of their regard and complaisance to make + us hunger for more. M. Fee, the naturalist, who has written + so admirably about animals, and who understands, as only a + Frenchman can understand, the delicate and subtle + organization of a cat, frankly admits that the keynote of its + character is independence. It dwells under our roofs, sleeps + by our fire, endures our blandishments, and apparently enjoys + our society, without for one moment forfeiting its sense of + absolute freedom, without acknowledging any servile relation + to the human creature who shelters it. + </p> + <p> + "Rude and masterful souls resent this fine self-sufficiency + in a domestic animal, and require that it shall have no will + but theirs, no pleasure that does not emanate from them. + </p> + <p> + "Yet there are people, less magisterial, perhaps, or less + exacting, who believe that true friendship, even with an + animal, may be built up on mutual esteem and independence; + that to demand gratitude is to be unworthy of it; and that + obedience is not essential to agreeable and healthy + intercourse. A man who owns a dog is, in every sense of the + word, its master: the term expresses accurately their mutual + relations. But it is ridiculous when applied to the limited + possession of a cat. I am certainly not Agrippina's mistress, + and the assumption of authority on my part would be a mere + empty dignity, like those swelling titles which afford such + innocent delight to the Freemasons of our severe republic. + </p> + <p> + "How many times have I rested tired eyes on her graceful + little body, curled up in a ball and wrapped round with her + tail like a parcel; or stretched out luxuriously on my bed, + one paw coyly covering her face, the other curved gently + inwards, as though clasping an invisible treasure. Asleep or + awake, in rest or in motion, grave or gay, Agrippina is + always beautiful; and it is better to be beautiful than to + fetch and carry from the rising to the setting of the sun. + </p> + <p> + "But when Agrippina has breakfasted and washed, and sits in + the sunlight blinking at me with affectionate contempt, I + feel soothed by her absolute and unqualified enjoyment. I + know how full my day will be of things that I don't want + particularly to do, and that are not particularly worth + doing; but for her, time and the world hold only this brief + moment of contentment. Slowly the eyes close, gently the + little body is relaxed. Oh, you who strive to relieve your + overwrought nerves and cultivate power through repose, watch + the exquisite languor of a drowsy cat, and despair of + imitating such perfect and restful grace. There is a gradual + yielding of every muscle to the soft persuasiveness of + slumber: the flexible frame is curved into tender lines, the + head nestles lower, the paws are tucked out of sight: no + convulsive throb or start betrays a rebellious alertness: + only a faint quiver of unconscious satisfaction, a faint + heaving of the tawny sides, a faint gleam of the half-shut + yellow eyes, and Agrippina is asleep. I look at her for one + wistful moment and then turn resolutely to my work. It were + ignoble to wish myself in her place: and yet how charming to + be able to settle down to a nap, <i>sans peur et sans + reproche</i>, at ten o'clock in the morning." + </p> + <p> + And again: "When I am told that Agrippina is disobedient, + ungrateful, cold-hearted, perverse, stupid, treacherous, and + cruel, I no longer strive to check the torrent of abuse. I + know that Buffon said all this, and much more, about cats, + and that people have gone on repeating it ever since, + principally because these spirited little beasts have + remained just what it pleased Providence to make them, have + preserved their primitive freedom through centuries of effete + and demoralizing civilization. Why, I wonder, should a great + many good men and women cherish an unreasonable grudge + against one animal because it does not chance to possess the + precise qualities of another? 'My dog fetches my slippers for + me every night,' said a friend, triumphantly, not long ago. + 'He puts them first to warm by the fire, and then brings them + over to my chair, wagging his tail, and as proud as Punch. + Would your cat do as much for you, I'd like to know?' + Assuredly not. If I waited for Agrippina to fetch me shoes or + slippers, I should have no other resource save to join as + speedily as possible one of the barefooted religious orders + of Italy. But after all, fetching slippers is not the whole + duty of domestic pets. + </p> + <p> + "As for curiosity, that vice which the Abbé Galiani + held to be unknown to animals, but which the more astute + Voltaire detected in every little dog that he saw peering out + of the window of its master's coach, it is the ruling passion + of the feline breast. A closet door left ajar, a box with + half-closed lid, an open bureau drawer,—these are the + objects that fill a cat with the liveliest interest and + delight. Agrippina watches breathlessly the unfastening of a + parcel, and tries to hasten matters by clutching actively at + the string. When its contents are shown to her, she examines + them gravely, and then, with a sigh of relief, settles down + to repose. The slightest noise disturbs and irritates her + until she discovers its cause. If she hears a footstep in the + hall, she runs out to see whose it is, and, like certain + troublesome little people I have known, she dearly loves to + go to the front door every time the bell is rung. From my + window she surveys the street with tranquil scrutiny, and if + the boys are playing below, she follows their games with a + steady, scornful stare, very different from the wistful + eagerness of a friendly dog, quivering to join in the sport. + Sometimes the boys catch sight of her, and shout up rudely at + her window; and I can never sufficiently admire Agrippina's + conduct upon these trying occasions, the well-bred composure + with which she affects neither to see nor to hear them, nor + to be aware that there are such objectionable creatures as + children in the world. Sometimes, too, the terrier that lives + next door comes out to sun himself in the street, and, + beholding my cat sitting well out of reach, he dances madly + up and down the pavement, barking with all his might, and + rearing himself on his short legs, in a futile attempt to + dislodge her. Then the spirit of evil enters Agrippina's + little heart. The window is open and she creeps to the + extreme edge of the stone sill, stretches herself at full + length, peers down smilingly at the frenzied dog, dangles one + paw enticingly in the air, and exerts herself with quiet + malice to drive him to desperation. Her sense of humor is + awakened by his frantic efforts and by her own absolute + security; and not until he is spent with exertion, and lies + panting and exhausted on the bricks, does she arch her + graceful back, stretch her limbs lazily in the sun, and with + one light bound spring from the window to my desk." + </p> + <p> + And what more delightful word did ever Miss Repplier write + than her description of a kitten? It, she says, "is the most + irresistible comedian in the world. Its wide-open eyes gleam + with wonder and mirth. It darts madly at nothing at all, and + then, as though suddenly checked in the pursuit, prances + sideways on its hind legs with ridiculous agility and zeal. + It makes a vast pretence of climbing the rounds of a chair, + and swings by the curtains like an acrobat. It scrambles up a + table leg, and is seized with comic horror at finding itself + full two feet from the floor. If you hasten to its rescue, it + clutches you nervously, its little heart thumping against its + furry sides, while its soft paws expand and contract with + agitation and relief:— + </p> + <pre> + "'And all their harmless claws disclose, + Like prickles of an early rose.' +</pre> + <p> + "Yet the instant it is back on the carpet it feigns to be + suspicious of your interference, peers at you out of 'the + tail o' its e'e,' and scampers for protection under the sofa, + from which asylum it presently emerges with cautious, + trailing steps as though encompassed by fearful dangers and + alarms." + </p> + <p> + Nobody can sympathize with her in the following description + better than I, who for years was compelled by the insistence + of my Pretty Lady to aid in the bringing up of + infants:— + </p> + <p> + "I own that when Agrippina brought her first-born + son—aged two days—and established him in my + bedroom closet, the plan struck me at the start as + inconvenient. I had prepared another nursery for the little + Claudius Nero, and I endeavored for a while to convince his + mother that my arrangements were best. But Agrippina was + inflexible. The closet suited her in every respect; and, with + charming and irresistible flattery, she gave me to + understand, in the mute language I knew so well, that she + wished her baby boy to be under my immediate protection. + </p> + <p> + "'I bring him to you because I trust you,' she said as + plainly as looks can speak. 'Downstairs they handle him all + the time, and it is not good for kittens to be handled. Here + he is safe from harm, and here he shall remain,' After a few + weak remonstrances, the futility of which I too clearly + understood, her persistence carried the day. I removed my + clothing from the closet, spread a shawl upon the floor, had + the door taken from its hinges, and resigned myself, for the + first time in my life, to the daily and hourly companionship + of an infant. + </p> + <p> + "I was amply rewarded. People who require the household cat + to rear her offspring in some remote attic or dark corner of + the cellar have no idea of all the diversion and pleasure + that they lose. It is delightful to watch the little, blind, + sprawling, feeble, helpless things develop swiftly into the + grace and agility of kittenhood. It is delightful to see the + mingled pride and anxiety of the mother, whose parental love + increases with every hour of care, and who exhibits her young + family as if they were infant Gracchi, the hope of all their + race. During Nero's extreme youth, there were times when + Agrippina wearied both of his companionship and of her own + maternal duties. Once or twice she abandoned him at night for + the greater luxury of my bed, where she slept tranquilly by + my side, unmindful of the little wailing cries with which + Nero lamented her desertion. Once or twice the heat of early + summer tempted her to spend the evening on the porch roof + which lay beneath my windows, and I have passed some anxious + hours awaiting her return, and wondering what would happen if + she never came back, and I were left to bring up the baby by + hand. + </p> + <p> + "But as the days sped on, and Nero grew rapidly in beauty and + intelligence, Agrippina's affection for him knew no bounds. + She could hardly bear to leave him even for a little while, + and always came hurrying back to him with a loud, frightened + mew, as if fearing he might have been stolen in her absence. + At night she purred over him for hours, or made little + gurgling noises expressive of ineffable content. She resented + the careless curiosity of strangers, and was a trifle + supercilious when the cook stole softly in to give vent to + her fervent admiration. But from first to last she shared + with me her pride and pleasure; and the joy in her beautiful + eyes, as she raised them to mine, was frankly confiding and + sympathetic. When the infant Claudius rolled for the first + time over the ledge of the closet and lay sprawling on the + bedroom floor, it would have been hard to say which of us was + the more elated at his prowess." + </p> + <p> + What became of these most interesting cats, is only hinted + at; Miss Repplier's sincere grief at their loss is evident in + the following:— + </p> + <p> + "Every night they retired at the same time and slept upon the + same cushion, curled up inextricably into one soft, furry + ball. Many times I have knelt by their chair to bid them both + good night; and always when I did so, Agrippina would lift + her charming head, purr drowsily for a few seconds, and then + nestle closer still to her first-born, with sighs of supreme + satisfaction. The zenith of her life had been reached. Her + cup of contentment was full. + </p> + <p> + "It is a rude world, even for little cats, and evil chances + lie in wait for the petted creatures we strive to shield from + harm. Remembering the pangs of separation, the possibilities + of unkindness or neglect, the troubles that hide in ambush on + every unturned page, I am sometimes glad that the same cruel + and selfish blow struck both mother and son, and that they + lie together, safe from hurt or hazard, sleeping tranquilly + and always, under the shadow of the friendly pines." + </p> + <p> + Probably no modern cat has been more written about than Miss + Mary L. Booth's Muff. There was a "Tippet," but he was early + lost. Miss Booth, as the editor of <i>Harper's Bazar</i>, was + the centre of a large circle of literary and musical people. + Her Saturday evenings were to New York what Mrs. Moulton's + Fridays are to Boston, the nearest approach to the French + salon possible in America. At these Saturday evenings Muff + always figured prominently, being dressed in a real lace + collar (brought him from Yucatan by Madame la Plongeon, and + elaborate and expensive enough for the most fastidious lady), + and apparently enjoying the company of noted intellectual + people as well as the best of them. And who knows, if he had + spoken, what light he might have shed on what seemed to mere + mortals as mysterious, abstruse, and occult problems? + Perhaps, after all, he liked that "salon" because in reality + he found so much to amuse him in the conversation; and + perhaps he was, under that guise of friendly interest in + noted scientists, reformers, poets, musicians, and + litterateurs, only whispering to himself, "O Lord, what fools + these mortals be!" + </p> + <p> + "For when I play with my cat," says Montaigne, "how do I know + whether she does not make a jest of me?" + </p> + <p> + But Muff was a real nobleman among cats, and extraordinarily + handsome. He was a great soft gray maltese with white paws + and breast—mild, amiable, and uncommonly intelligent. + He felt it his duty to help entertain Miss Booth's guests, + always; and he more than once, at the beginning of a + reception, came into the drawing-room with a mouse in his + mouth as his offering to the occasion. Naturally enough "he + caused the stampede," as Mrs. Spofford puts it, "that Mr. + Gilbert forgot to put into 'Princess Ida' when her Amazons + wild demonstrate their courage." + </p> + <p> + As one of Miss Booth's intimate friends, Mrs. Spofford was + much at her house and became early a devoted admirer of + Muff's. + </p> + <p> + "His latter days," she says, "were rendered miserable by a + little silky, gray creature, an Angora named Vashti, who was + a spark of the fire of the lower regions wrapped round in + long silky fur, and who never let him alone one moment: who + was full of tail-lashings and racings and leapings and fury, + and of the most demonstrative love for her mistress. Once I + made them collars with breastplates of tiny dangling bells, + nine or ten; it excited them nearly to madness, and they flew + up and down stairs like unchained lightning till the trinkets + were taken off." + </p> + <p> + In a house full of birds Muff never touched one, although he + was an excellent mouser (who says cats have no conscience?). + He was, although so socially inclined toward his mistress's + guests, a timid person, and the wild back-yard cats filled + him with terror. + </p> + <p> + "But as one must see something of the world," continues Mrs. + Spofford, "he used to jump from lintel to lintel of the + windows of the block, if by chance his own were left open, + and return when he pleased." + </p> + <p> + Muff died soon after the death of Miss Booth. Vashti, who was + very much admired by all her mistress's literary friends, was + given to Miss Juliet Corson. + </p> + <p> + Miss Edna Dean Proctor, the poet, is another admirer of fine + cats. Her favorite, however, was the friend of her childhood + called Beauty. + </p> + <p> + "Beauty was my grandmother's cat," says Miss Proctor, "and + the delight of my childhood. To this far-off day I remember + her as distinctly as I do my aunt and cousins of that + household, and even my dear grandmother herself. I know + nothing of her ancestry and am not at all sure that she was + royally bred, for she came, one chill night, a little + wanderer to the door. But a shred of blue ribbon was clinging + to her neck, and she was so pretty, and silky, and winsome + that we children at once called her Beauty, and fancied she + had strayed from some elegant home where she had been the pet + of the household, lapping her milk from finest china and + sleeping on a cushion of down. When we had warmed, and fed, + and caressed her, we made her bed in a flannel-lined box + among our dolls, and the next morning were up before the sun + to see her, fearing her owners would appear and carry her + away. But no one arrived to claim her, and she soon became an + important member of the family, and grew handsomer, we + thought, day by day. Her coat was gray with tiger markings, + but paws and throat and nose were snowy white, and in spite + of her excursions to barns and cellars her constant care kept + them spotless—indeed, she was the very Venus of cats + for daintiness and grace of pose and movement. To my + grandmother her various attitudes had an undoubted meaning. + If in a rainy day Beauty washed her face toward the west, her + observant mistress would exclaim: 'See, kitty is washing her + face to the west. It will clear.' Or, even when the sky was + blue, if Beauty turned eastward for her toilet, the comment + would be: 'Kitty is washing her face to the east. The wind + must be getting "out" (from the sea), and a storm brewing.' + And when in the dusk of autumn or winter evenings Beauty ran + about the room, chasing her tail or frolicking with her + kittens instead of sleeping quietly by the fire as was her + wont, my grandmother would look up and say: 'Kitty is wild + to-night. The wind will blow hard before morning.' If I + sometimes asked how she knew these things, the reply would + be, 'My mother told me when I was a little girl.' Now her + mother, my great-grandmother, was a distinguished personage + in my eyes, having been the daughter of Captain Jonathan + Prescott who commanded a company under Sir William Pepperell + at the siege of Louisburg and lost his life there; and I + could not question the wisdom of colonial times. Indeed, to + this hour I have a lingering belief that cats can foretell + the weather. + </p> + <p> + "And what a mouser she was! Before her time we often heard + the rats and mice in the walls, but with her presence not one + dared to peep, and cupboard and pantry were unmolested. Now + and then she carried her forays to hedge and orchard, and I + remember one sad summer twilight that saw her bring in a + slender brown bird which my grandmother said was the cuckoo + we had delighted to hear in the still mornings among the + alders by the river. She was scolded and had no milk that + night, and we never knew her to catch a bird again. + </p> + <p> + "O to see her with her kittens! She always hid them in the + haymows, and hunting and finding them brought us no end of + excitement and pleasure. Twice a day, at least, she would + come to the house to be fed, and then how we watched her + returning steps, stealing cautiously along the path and + waiting behind stack or door the better to observe + her—for pussy knew perfectly well that we were eager to + see her darlings, and enjoyed misleading and piquing us, we + imagined, by taking devious ways. How well I recall that + summer afternoon when, soft-footed and alone, I followed her + to the floor of the barn. Just as she was about to spring to + the mow she espied me, and, turning back, cunningly settled + herself as if for a quiet nap in the sunny open door. + Determined not to lose sight of her, I threw myself upon the + fragrant hay; but in the stillness, the faint sighing of the + wind, the far-off ripple of the river, the hazy outline of + the hills, the wheeling swallows overhead, were blended at + length in an indistinct dream, and I slept, oblivious of all. + When I woke, pussy had disappeared, the sun was setting, the + cows were coming from the pastures, and I could only return + to the house discomfited. That particular family of kittens + we never saw till a fortnight later, when the proud mother + brought them in one by one, and laid them at my grandmother's + feet. + </p> + <p> + "What became of Beauty is as mysterious as the fate of the + Dauphin. To our grief, she disappeared one November day, and + we never saw her more. Sometimes we fancied she had been + carried off by an admiring traveller: at others we tortured + ourselves with the belief that the traditional wildcat of the + north woods had devoured her. All we knew was that she had + vanished; but when memory pictures that pleasant country home + and the dear circle there, white-throated Beauty is always + sleeping by the fire." + </p> + <p> + Miss Fidelia Bridges, the artist, is another devoted cat + lover, and at her home at Canaan, Ct., has had several + interesting specimens. + </p> + <p> + "Among my many generations of pet cats," says Miss Bridges, + "one aristocratic maltese lady stands out in prominence + before all the rest. She was a cat of great personal beauty + and independence of character—a remarkable huntress, + bringing in game almost as large as herself, holding her + beautiful head aloft to keep the great wings of pigeons from + trailing on the ground. She and her mother were fast friends + from birth to death. When the young maltese had her first + brood of kittens, her mother had also a family in another + barrel in the cellar. When we went to see the just-arrived + family, we found our Lady Malty's bed empty, and there in her + mother's barrel were both families and both mothers. A + delightful arrangement for the young mother, who could leave + her children in the grandmother's care and enjoy her liberty + when it pleased her to roam abroad. The young lady had an + indomitable will, and when she decided to do a thing nothing + would turn her aside. She found a favorite resting-place on a + pile of blankets in a dark attic room. This being disapproved + of by the elders, the door was kept carefully closed. She + then found entrance through a stove-pipe hole, high up on the + wall of an adjoining room. A cover was hung over the hole. + She sprang up and knocked it off. Then, as a last resort, the + hole was papered over like the wall-paper of the room. She + looked, made a leap, and crashed through the paper with as + merry an air as a circus-rider through his papered hoop. She + had a habit of manoeuvring to be shut out of doors at + bed-time, and then, when all was still, climbing up to my + window by means of a porch over a door beneath it, to pass + the night on my bed. In some alterations of the house, the + porch was taken away. She looked with dismay for a moment at + the destruction of her ladder, then calmly ran up the side of + the house to my window, which she always after continued to + do. + </p> + <p> + "Next in importance, perhaps, is my present intimate + companion, now ten years old and absolutely deaf, so that we + communicate with signs. If I want to attract his attention I + step on the floor: if to go to his dinner, I show him a + certain blue plate: to call him in at night, I take a lantern + outside the door, and the flash of light attracts his + attention from a great distance. On one occasion he lived + nine months alone in the house while I made a trip to Europe, + absolutely refusing all the neighbors' invitations to enter + any other house. A friend's gardener brought him his daily + rations. As warm weather came, he spent his days in the + fields, returning in the night for his food, so that at my + return it was two or three days before he discovered that the + house was open. The third evening he entered the open door, + looked wildly about for a moment, but when I put my hand on + him suddenly recognized me and overwhelmed me with + affectionate caresses, and for two days and nights would not + allow me out of his sight, unable to eat or sleep unless I + was close at hand, and following me from room to room and + chair to chair. And people say that cats have no affection!" + </p> + <p> + At the Quincy House in Boston may be seen in the office an + oil painting of an immense yellow cat. The first time I + noticed the picture, I was proceeding into the dining room, + and while waiting for dinner, was amused at seeing the + original of the picture walk sedately in, all alone, and + going to an empty table, seat himself with majestic grace in + a chair. The waiter, seeing him, came forward and pushed up + the chair as he would do for any other guest. The cat then + waited patiently without putting his paws on the table, or + violating any other law of table etiquette, until a plate of + meat came, cut up to suit his taste (I did not hear him give + his order), and then, placing his front paws on the edge of + the table, he ate from his plate. When he had finished, he + descended from his table and stalked out of the room with + much dignity. He was always regular at his meals, and + although he picked out a good seat, did not always sit at the + same table. He was in appearance something like the famous + orange cats of Venice, and attracted much attention, as might + be expected, up to his death, at a ripe old age. + </p> + <p> + Miss Frances Willard was a cat-lover, too, and had a + beautiful cat which is known to all her friends. + </p> + <p> + "Tootsie" went to Rest Cottage, the home of Frances Willard, + when only a kitten, and there he lived, the pet of the + household and its guests, until several years ago, when Miss + Willard prepared to go abroad. Then she took Tootsie in her + arms, carried him to the Drexel kennels in Chicago, and asked + their owner, Mrs. Leland Norton, to admit him as a member of + her large cat family, where he still lives. To his praise be + it spoken, he has never forgotten his old friends at Rest + Cottage. To this day, whenever any of them come to call upon + him, he honors them with instant and hearty recognition. Miss + Willard was sometimes forced to be separated from him more + than a year at a time, but neither time nor change had any + effect upon Tootsie. At the first sound of her voice he would + spring to her side. He is a magnificent Angora, weighing + twenty-four pounds, with the long, silky hair, the frill, or + lord mayor's chain, the superb curling tail, and the large, + full eyes of the thoroughbred. Then he has proved himself of + aristocratic tendencies, has beautiful manners, is endowed + with the human qualities of memory and discrimination, and is + aesthetic in his tastes. + </p> + <p> + Being the privileged character that he is, Tootsie always + eats at the table with the family. He has his own chair and + bib, and his manners are said to be exquisite. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH5"><!-- CH5 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING SOME HISTORIC CATS + </center> + <p> + It is quite common for writers on the cat to say, "The story + of Théophile Gautier's cats is too familiar to need + comment." On the contrary, I do not believe it is familiar to + the average reader, and that only those who know Gautier's + "Ménagerie In-time" in the original, recall the + particulars of his "White and Black Dynasties." For this + reason they shall be repeated in these pages. I use Mrs. + Cashel-Hoey's translation, partly in a selfish desire to save + myself time and labor, but principally because she has + preserved so successfully the sympathetic and appreciative + spirit of M. Gautier himself. + </p> + <p> + "Dynasties of cats, as numerous as those of the Egyptian + kings, succeeded each other in my dwelling," says he. "One + after another they were swept away by accident, by flight, by + death. All were loved and regretted: but life is made up of + oblivion, and the memory of cats dies out like the memory of + men." After making mention of an old gray cat who always took + his part against his parents, and used to bite Madame + Gautier's legs when she presumed to reprove her son, he + passes on at once to the romantic period, and the + commemoration of Childebrand. + </p> + <p> + "This name at once reveals a deep design of flouting Boileau, + whom I did not like then, but have since become reconciled + to. Has not Nicholas said:— + </p> + <pre> + "'O le plaisant projet d'un poëte ignorant + Que de tant de héros va choisir Childebrant!' +</pre> + <p> + "Now I considered Childebrand a very fine name indeed, + Merovingian, mediaeval, and Gothic, and vastly preferable to + Agamemnon, Achilles, Ulysses, or any Greek name whatsoever. + Romanticism was the fashion of my early days: I have no doubt + the people of classical times called their cats Hector, Ajax, + or Patroclus. Childebrand was a splendid cat of common kind, + tawny and striped with black, like the hose of Saltabadil in + 'Le Rois' Amuse.' With his large, green, almond-shaped eyes, + and his symmetrical stripes, there was something tigerlike + about him that pleased me. Childebrand had the honor of + figuring in some verses that I wrote to 'flout' + Boileau:— + </p> + <pre> + "Puis je te décrirai ce tableau de Rembrandt + Que me fait tant plaisir: et mon chat Childebrand, + Sur mes genoux pose selon son habitude, + Levant sur moi la tête avec inquiétude, + Suivra les mouvements de mon doigt qui dans l'air + Esquisse mon récit pour le rendre plus clair. +</pre> + <p> + "Childebrand was brought in there to make a good rhyme for + Rembrandt, the piece being a kind of confession of the + romantic faith made to a friend, who was then as enthusiastic + as myself about Victor Hugo, Sainte Beuve, and Alfred de + Musset.... I come next to Madame Théophile, a 'red' + cat, with a white breast, a pink nose, and blue eyes, whom I + called by that name because we were on terms of the closest + intimacy. She slept at the foot of my bed: she sat on the arm + of my chair while I wrote: she came down into the garden and + gravely walked about with me: she was present at all my + meals, and frequently intercepted a choice morsel on its way + from my plate to my mouth. One day a friend who was going + away for a short time, brought me his parrot, to be taken + care of during his absence. The bird, finding itself in a + strange place, climbed up to the top of its perch by the aid + of its beak, and rolled its eyes (as yellow as the nails in + my arm-chair) in a rather frightened manner, also moving the + white membranes that formed its eyelids. Madame + Théophile had never seen a parrot, and she regarded + the creature with manifest surprise. While remaining as + motionless as a cat mummy from Egypt in its swathing bands, + she fixed her eyes upon the bird with a look of profound + meditation, summoning up all the notions of natural history + that she had picked up in the yard, in the garden, and on the + roof. The shadow of her thoughts passed over her changing + eyes, and we could plainly read in them the conclusion to + which her scrutiny led, 'Decidedly this is a green chicken.' + </p> + <p> + "This result attained, the next proceeding of Madame + Théophile was to jump off the table from which she had + made her observations, and lay herself flat on the ground in + a corner of the room, exactly in the attitude of the panther + in Gérôme's picture watching the gazelles as + they come down to drink at a lake. The parrot followed the + movements of the cat with feverish anxiety: it ruffled its + feathers, rattled its chain, lifted one of its feet and shook + the claws, and rubbed its beak against the edge of its + trough. Instinct told it that the cat was an enemy and meant + mischief. The cat's eyes were now fixed upon the bird with + fascinating intensity, and they said in perfectly + intelligible language, which the poor parrot distinctly + understood, 'This chicken ought to be good to eat, although + it is green.' We watched the scene with great interest, ready + to interfere at need. Madame Théophile was creeping + nearer and nearer almost imperceptibly; her pink nose + quivered, her eyes were half closed, her contractile claws + moved in and out of their velvet sheaths, slight thrills of + pleasure ran along her backbone at the idea of the meal she + was about to make. Such novel and exotic food excited her + appetite. + </p> + <p> + "All in an instant her back took the shape of a bent bow, and + with a vigorous and elastic bound she sprang upon the perch. + The parrot, seeing its danger, said in a bass voice as grave + and deep as M. Prudhomme's own, 'As tu déjeuné, + Jacquot?' + </p> + <p> + "This utterance so terrified the cat that she sprang + backwards. The blare of a trumpet, the crash and smash of a + pile of plates flung to the ground, a pistol shot fired off + at her ear, could not have frightened her more thoroughly. + All her ornithological ideas were overthrown. + </p> + <p> + "'Et de quoi? Du rôti du roi?' continued the parrot. + </p> + <p> + "Then might we, the observers, read in the physiognomy of + Madame Théophile, 'This is not a bird, it is a + gentleman; it talks.' + </p> + <pre> + "'Quand j'ai bu du vin clairet, + Tout tourne, tout tourne an cabaret,' +</pre> + <p> + shrieked the parrot in a deafening voice, for it had + perceived that its best means of defence was the terror + aroused by its speech. The cat cast a glance at me which was + full of questioning, but as my response was not satisfactory, + she promptly hid herself under the bed, and from that refuge + she could not be induced to stir during the whole of the day. + People who are not accustomed to live with animals, and who, + like Descartes, regard them as mere machines, will think that + I lend unauthorized meanings to the acts of the 'volatile' + and the 'quadruped,' but I have only faithfully translated + their ideas into human language. The next day Madame + Théophile plucked up courage and made another attempt, + which was similarly repulsed. From that moment she gave it + up, accepting the bird as a variety of man. + </p> + <p> + "This dainty and charming animal was extremely fond of + perfumes, especially of patchouli and the scent exhaled by + India shawls. She was also very fond of music, and would + listen, sitting on a pile of music-books, while the fair + singers who came to try the critic's piano filled his room + with melody. All the time Madame Théophile would + evince great pleasure. She was, however, made nervous by + certain notes, and at the high <i>la</i> she would tap the + singer's mouth with her paw. This was very amusing, and my + visitors delighted in making the experiment. It never failed; + the dilettante in fun was not to be deceived. + </p> + <p> + "The rule of the 'White Dynasty' belonged to a later epoch, + and was inaugurated in the person of a pretty little kitten + as white as a powder puff, who came from Havana. On account + of his spotless whiteness he was called Pierrot; but when he + grew up this name was very properly magnified into + Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, which was far more majestic, and + suggested 'grandee-ism.' [M. Théophile Gautier lays it + down as a dogma that all animals with whom one is much taken + up, and who are 'spoiled,' become delightfully good and + amiable. Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre successfully supported his + master's theory; perhaps he suggested it.] + </p> + <p> + "He shared in the life of the household with the enjoyment of + quiet fireside friendship that is characteristic of cats. He + had his own place near the fire, and there he would sit with + a convincing air of comprehension of all that was talked of + and of interest in it; he followed the looks of the speakers, + and uttered little sounds toward them as though he, too, had + objections to make and opinions to give upon the literary + subjects which were most frequently discussed. He was very + fond of books, and when he found one open on a table he would + lie down on it, turn over the edges of the leaves with his + paws, and after a while fall asleep, for all the world as if + he had been reading a fashionable novel. He was deeply + interested in my writing, too; the moment I took up my pen he + would jump upon the desk, and follow the movement of the + penholder with the gravest attention, making a little + movement with his head at the beginning of each line. + Sometimes he would try to take the pen out of my hand. + </p> + <p> + "Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre never went to bed until I had come + in. He would wait for me just inside the outer door and rub + himself to my legs, his back in an arch, with a glad and + friendly purring. Then he would go on before me, preceding me + with a page-like air, and I have no doubt, if I had asked + him, he would have carried the candlestick. Having thus + conducted me to my bedroom, he would wait quietly while I + undressed, and then jump on my bed, take my neck between his + paws, gently rub my nose with his own, and lick me with his + small, pink tongue, as rough as a file, uttering all the time + little inarticulate cries, which expressed as clearly as any + words could do his perfect satisfaction at having me with him + again. After these caresses he would perch himself on the + back of the bedstead and sleep there, carefully balanced, + like a bird on a branch. When I awoke, he would come down and + lie beside me until I got up. + </p> + <p> + "Pierrot was as strict as a concierge in his notions of the + proper hour for all good people to return to their homes. He + did not approve of anything later than midnight. In those + days we had a little society among friends, which we called + 'The Four Candles,'—the light in our place of meeting + being restricted to four candles in silver candlesticks, + placed at the four corners of the tables. Sometimes the talk + became so animated that I forgot all about time, and twice or + three times Pierrot sat up for me until two o'clock in the + morning. After a while, however, my conduct in this respect + displeased him, and he retired to rest without me. I was + touched by this mute protest against my innocent dissipation, + and thenceforth came home regularly at twelve o'clock. + Nevertheless, Pierrot cherished the memory of my offence for + some time; he waited to test the reality of my repentance, + but when he was convinced that my conversion was sincere, he + deigned to restore me to his good graces, and resumed his + nocturnal post in the anteroom. + </p> + <p> + "To gain the friendship of a cat is a difficult thing. The + cat is a philosophical, methodical, quiet animal, tenacious + of its own habits, fond of order and cleanliness, and it does + not lightly confer its friendship. If you are worthy of its + affection, a cat will be your friend, but never your slave. + He keeps his free will, though he loves, and he will not do + for you what he thinks unreasonable; but if he once gives + himself to you, it is with such absolute confidence, such + fidelity of affection. He makes himself the companion of your + hours of solitude, melancholy, and toil. He remains for whole + evenings on your knee, uttering his contented purr, happy to + be with you, and forsaking the company of animals of his own + species. In vain do melodious mewings on the roof invite him + to one of those cat parties in which fish bones play the part + of tea and cakes; he is not to be tempted away from you. Put + him down and he will jump up again, with a sort of cooing + sound that is like a gentle reproach; and sometimes he will + sit upon the carpet in front of you, looking at you with eyes + so melting, so caressing, and so human, that they almost + frighten you, for it is impossible to believe that a soul is + not there. + </p> + <p> + "Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre had a sweetheart of the same race and + of as snowy a whiteness as himself. The ermine would have + looked yellow by the side of Seraphita, for so this lovely + creature was named, in honor of Balzac's Swedenborgian + romance. Seraphita was of a dreamy and contemplative + disposition. She would sit on a cushion for hours together, + quite motionless, not asleep, and following with her eyes, in + a rapture of attention, sights invisible to mere mortals. + Caresses were agreeable to her, but she returned them in a + very reserved manner, and only in the case of persons whom + she favored with her rarely accorded esteem. She was fond of + luxury, and it was always upon the handsomest easy-chair, or + the rug that would best show off her snowy fur, that she + would surely be found. She devoted a great deal of time to + her toilet, her glossy coat was carefully smoothed every + morning. She washed herself with her paw, and licked every + atom of her fur with her pink tongue until it shone like new + silver. When any one touched her, she instantly effaced all + trace of the contact; she could not endure to be tumbled. An + idea of aristocracy was suggested by her elegance and + distinction, and among her own people she was a duchess at + least. She delighted in perfumes, would stick her nose into + bouquets, bite scented handkerchiefs with little spasms of + pleasure, and walk about among the scent bottles on the + toilet table, smelling at their stoppers; no doubt, she would + have used the powder puff if she had been permitted. Such was + Seraphita, and never did cat more amply justify a poetic + name. I must mention here that, in the days of the White + Dynasty, I was also the happy possessor of a family of white + rats, and that the cats, always supposed to be their natural, + invariable, and irreconcilable enemies, lived in perfect + harmony with my pet rodents. The rats never showed the + slightest distrust of the cats, nor did the cats ever betray + their confidence. Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre was very much + attached to them. He would sit close to their cage and + observe their gambols for hours together, and if by any + chance the door of the room in which they were left was shut, + he would scratch and mew gently until some one came to open + it and allow him to rejoin his little white friends, who + would often come out of the cage and sleep close to him. + Seraphita, who was of a more reserved and disdainful temper, + and who disliked the musky odor of the white rats, took no + part in their games; but she never did them any harm, and + would let them pass before her without putting out a claw. + </p> + <p> + "Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, who came from Havana, required a + hothouse temperature: and this he always had in his own + apartments. The house was, however, surrounded by extensive + gardens, divided by railings, through and over which cats + could easily climb, and in those gardens were trees inhabited + by a great number of birds. Pierrot would frequently take + advantage of an open door to get out of an evening and go + a-hunting through the wet grass and flower-beds: and, as his + mewing under the windows when he wanted to get in again did + not always awaken the sleepers in the house, he frequently + had to stay out until morning. His chest was delicate, and + one very chilly night he caught a cold which rapidly + developed into phthisis. At the end of a year of coughing, + poor Don Pierrot had wasted to a skeleton, and his coat, once + so silky, was a dull, harsh white. His large, transparent + eyes looked unnaturally large in his shrunken face: the pink + of his little nose had faded, and he dragged himself slowly + along the sunny side of the wall with a melancholy air, + looking at the yellow autumnal leaves as they danced and + whirled in the wind. Nothing is so touching as a sick animal: + it submits to suffering with such gentle and sad resignation. + We did all in our power to save Pierrot: a skilful doctor + came to see him, felt his pulse, sounded his lungs, and + ordered him ass's milk. He drank the prescribed beverage very + readily out of his own especial china saucer. For hours + together he lay stretched upon my knee, like the shadow of a + sphinx. I felt his spine under my finger tips like the beads + of a rosary, and he tried to respond to my caresses by a + feeble purr that resembled a death-rattle. On the day of his + death he was lying on his side panting, and suddenly, with a + supreme effort, he rose and came to me. His large eyes were + opened wide, and he gazed at me with a look of intense + supplication, a look that seemed to say, 'Save me, save me, + you, who are a man.' Then he made a few faltering steps, his + eyes became glassy, and he fell down, uttering so lamentable + a cry, so dreadful and full of anguish, that I was struck + dumb and motionless with horror. He was buried at the bottom + of the garden under a white rose tree, which still marks the + place of his sepulture. Three years later Seraphita died, and + was buried by the side of Don Pierrot. With her the White + Dynasty became extinct, but not the family. This snow-white + couple had three children, who were as black as ink. Let any + one explain that mystery who can. The kittens were born in + the early days of the great renown of Victor Hugo's 'Les + Miserables,' when everybody was talking of the new + masterpiece, and the names of the personages in it were in + every mouth. The two little male creatures were called + Enjolras and Gavroche, and their sister received the name of + Eponine. They were very pretty, and I trained them to run + after a little ball of paper and bring it back to me when I + threw it into the corner of the room. In time they would + follow the ball up to the top of the bookcase, or fish for it + behind boxes or in the bottom of china vases with their + dainty little paws. As they grew up they came to disdain + those frivolous amusements, and assumed the philosophical and + meditative quiet which is the true temperament of the cat. + </p> + <p> + "To the eyes of the careless and indifferent observer, three + black cats are just three black cats, but those who are + really acquainted with animals know that their physiognomy is + as various as that of the human race. I was perfectly well + able to distinguish between these little faces, as black as + Harlequin's mask, and lighted up by disks of emerald with + golden gleams. Enjolras, who was much the handsomest of the + three, was remarkable for his broad, leonine head and full + whiskers, strong shoulders, and a superb feathery tail. There + was something theatrical and pretentious in his air, like the + posing of a popular actor. His movements were slow, + undulatory, and majestic: so circumspect was he about where + he set his feet down that he always seemed to be walking + among glass and china. His disposition was by no means + stoical, and he was much too fond of food to have been + approved of by his namesake. The temperate and austere + Enjolras would certainly have said to him, as the angel said + to Swedenborg, 'You eat too much.' I encouraged his + gastronomical tastes, and Enjolras attained a very unusual + size and weight. + </p> + <p> + "Gavroche was a remarkably knowing cat, and looked it. He was + wonderfully active, and his twists, twirls, and tumbles were + very comic. He was of a Bohemian temperament, and fond of low + company. Thus he would occasionally compromise the dignity of + his descent from the illustrious Don-Pierrot-de-Navarre, + grandee of Spain of the first class, and the Marquesa Dona + Seraphita, of aristocratic and disdainful bearing. He would + sometimes return from his expeditions to the street, + accompanied by gaunt, starved companions, whom he had picked + up in his wanderings, and he would stand complacently by + while they bolted the contents of his plate of food in a + violent hurry and in dread of dispersion by a broomstick or a + shower of water. I was sometimes tempted to say to Gavroche, + 'A nice lot of friends you pick up,' but I refrained, for, + after all, it was an amiable weakness: he might have eaten + his dinner all by himself. + </p> + <p> + "The interesting Eponine was more slender and graceful than + her brothers, and she was an extraordinarily sensitive, + nervous, and electric animal. She was passionately attached + to me, and she would do the honors of my hermitage with + perfect grace and propriety. When the bell rang, she hastened + to the door, received the visitors, conducted them to the + salon, made them take seats, talked to them—yes, + talked, with little coos, murmurs, and cries quite unlike the + language which cats use among themselves, and which bordered + on the articulate speech of man. What did she say? She said + quite plainly: 'Don't be impatient: look at the pictures, or + talk with me, if I amuse you. My master is coming down.' On + my appearing she would retire discreetly to an arm-chair or + the corner of the piano, and listen to the conversation + without interrupting it, like a well-bred animal accustomed + to good society. + </p> + <p> + "Eponine's intelligence, fine disposition, and sociability + led to her being elevated by common consent to the dignity of + a person, for reason, superior instinct, plainly governed her + conduct. That dignity conferred on her the right to eat at + table like a person, and not in a corner on the floor, from a + saucer, like an animal. Eponine had a chair by my side at + breakfast and dinner, but in consideration of her size she + was privileged to place her fore paws on the table. Her place + was laid, without a knife and fork, indeed, but with a glass, + and she went regularly through dinner, from soup to dessert, + awaiting her turn to be helped, and behaving with a quiet + propriety which most children might imitate with advantage. + At the first stroke of the bell she would appear, and when I + came into the dining room she would be at her post, upright + in her chair, her fore paws on the edge of the tablecloth, + and she would present her smooth forehead to be kissed, like + a well-bred little girl who was affectionately polite to + relatives and old people. When we had friends to dine with + us, Eponine always knew that company was expected. She would + look at her place, and if a knife, fork, and spoon lay near + her plate she would immediately turn away and seat herself on + the piano-stool, her invariable refuge. Let those who deny + the possession of reason to animals explain, if they can, + this little fact, apparently so simple, but which contains a + world of induction. From the presence near her plate of those + implements which only man can use, the observant and + judicious cat concluded that she ought on this occasion to + give way to a guest, and she hastened to do so. She was never + mistaken: only, when the visitor was a person whom she knew + and liked, she would jump on his knee and coax him for a bit + off his plate by her graceful caresses. She survived her + brothers, and was my dear companion for several years.... + Such is the chronicle of the Black Dynasty." + </p> + <p> + Although cats have no place in the Bible, neither can their + enemies who sing the praise of the dog, find much advantage + there: for that most excellent animal is referred to in + anything but a complimentary fashion—"For without are + dogs and sorcerers." + </p> + <p> + The great prophet of Allah, however, knew a good cat when he + saw it. "Muezza" even contributed her small share to the + development of the Mahometan system: for did she not sit + curled up in her master's sleeve, and by her soft purring + soothe and deepen his meditations? And did she not keep him + dreaming so long that she finally became exhausted herself, + and fell asleep in his flowing sleeve; whereupon did not + Mahomet, rather than disturb her, and feeling that he must be + about his Allah's business, cut off his sleeve rather than + disturb the much loved Muezza? The nurses of Cairo tell this + story to their young charges to this day. + </p> + <p> + Cardinal Richelieu had many a kitten, too; and morose and + ill-tempered as he was, found in them much amusement. His + love for them, however, was not that unselfish love which led + Mahomet to cut off his sleeve; but simply a selfish desire + for passing amusement. He cared nothing for that most + interesting process, the development of a kitten into a cat, + and the study of its individuality which is known only to the + real lover of cats. For it is recorded of him that as soon as + his pets were three months old he sent them away, evidently + not caring where, and procured new ones. + </p> + <p> + M. Champfleury, however, thinks it possible that there may + not be any real foundation for this story about Richelieu. He + refers to the fact that Moncrif says not a word about the + celebrated cardinal's passion for those creatures; but he + does say, "Everybody knows that one of the greatest ministers + France ever possessed, M. Colbert, always had a number of + kittens playing about that same cabinet in which so many + institutions, both honorable and useful to the nation, had + their origin." Can it be that Richelieu has been given credit + for Colbert's virtues? + </p> + <p> + In various parts of Chateaubriand's "Memoires" may be found + eulogiums on the cat. So well known was his fondness for + them, that even when his other feelings and interests faded + with age and decay, his affections for cats remained strong + to the end. This love became well known to all his compeers, + and once on an embassy to Rome the Pope gave him a cat. He + was called "Micetto." According to Chateaubriand's + biographer, M. de Marcellus, "Pope Leo XII's cat could not + fail to reappear in the description of that domestic hearth + where I have so often seen him basking. In fact, + Chateaubriand has immortalized his favorite in the sketch + which begins, 'My companion is a big cat, of a greyish red.'" + This ecclesiastical pet was always dignified and imposing in + manners, ever conscious that he had been the gift of a + sovereign pontiff, and had a tremendous weight of reputation + to maintain. He used to stroke his tail when he desired + Madame Recamier to know that he was tired. + </p> + <p> + "I love in the cat," said Chateaubriand to M. de Marcellus, + "that independent and almost ungrateful temper which prevents + it from attaching itself to any one: the indifference with + which it passes from the salon to the house-top. When you + caress it, it stretches itself out and arches its back, + indeed: but that is caused by physical pleasure, not, as in + the case of the dog, by a silly satisfaction in loving and + being faithful to a master who returns thanks in kicks. The + cat lives alone, has no need of society, does not obey except + when it likes, and pretends to sleep that it may see the more + clearly, and scratches everything that it can scratch. Buffon + has belied the cat: I am laboring at its rehabilitation, and + hope to make of it a tolerably good sort of animal, as times + go." + </p> + <p> + Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor of England, was another + cat-lover, and his superb cat sat in a cushioned arm-chair by + his side in the zenith of his pride and power, the only one + in that select circle who was not obliged to don a wig and + robe while acting in a judicial capacity. Then there was + Bouhaki, the proud Theban cat that used to wear gold earrings + as he sat at the feet of King Hana, his owner, perhaps, but + not his master, and whose reproduction in the tomb of Hana in + the Necropolis at Thebes, between his master's feet in a + statue, is one of the most ancient reproductions of a cat. + And Sainte-Beuve, whose cat used to roam at will over his + desk and sit or lie on the precious manuscripts no other + person was allowed to touch; it is flattering to know that + the great Frenchman and I have one habit in common; and Miss + Repplier owns to it too. "But Sainte-Beuve," says she, + "probably had sufficient space reserved for his own comfort + and convenience. I have not; and Agrippina's beautifully + ringed tail flapping across my copy distracts my attention + and imperils the neatness of my penmanship." And even as I + write these pages, does the Pretty Lady's daughter Jane lie + on my copy and gaze lovingly at me as I work. + </p> + <p> + Julian Hawthorne is another writer whose cat is an + accompaniment of his working hours. In this connection we + must not forget M. Brasseur Wirtgen, a student of natural + history who writes of his cat: "My habit of reading," he + says, "which divided us from each other in our respective + thoughts, prejudiced my cat very strongly against my books. + Sometimes her little head would project its profile on the + page which I was perusing, as though she were trying to + discover what it was that thus absorbed me: doubtless, she + did not understand why I should look for my happiness beyond + the presence of a devoted heart. Her solicitude was no less + manifest when she brought me rats or mice. She acted in this + case exactly as if I had been her son: dragging enormous + rats, still in the throes of death, to my feet: and she was + evidently guided by logic in offering me a prey commensurate + with my size, for she never presented any such large game to + her kittens. Her affectionate attention invariably caused her + a severe disappointment. Having laid the product of her + hunting expedition at my feet, she would appear to be greatly + hurt by my indifference to such delicious fare." + </p> + <p> + That Tasso had a cat we know because he wrote a sonnet to + her. Alfred de Musset's cats are apostrophized in his verses. + Dr. Johnson's Hodge held a soft place for many years in the + gruff old scholar's breast. And has not every one heard how + the famous Dr. Johnson fetched oysters for his beloved Hodge, + lest the servants should object to the trouble, and vent + their displeasure on his favorite? + </p> + <p> + Nor can one forget Sir Isaac Newton and his cats: for is it + not alleged that the great man had two holes cut in his barn + door, one for the mother, and a smaller one for the kitten? + </p> + <p> + Byron was fond of cats: in his establishment at Ravenna he + had five of them. Daniel Maclise's famous portrait of Harriet + Martineau represents that estimable woman sitting in front of + a fireplace and turning her face to receive the caress of her + pet cat crawling to a resting-place upon her mistress's + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Although La Fontaine in his fables shows such a delicate + appreciation of their character and ways, it is doubtful + whether he honestly loved cats. But his friend and patron, + the Duchess of Bouillon, was so devoted to them that she + requested the poet to make her a copy with his own hand of + all his fables in which pussy appears. The exercise-book in + which they were written was discovered a few years ago among + the Bouillon papers. + </p> + <p> + Baudelaire, it is said, could never pass a cat in the street + without stopping to stroke and fondle it. "Many a time," said + Champfleury, "when he and I have been walking together, have + we stopped to look at a cat curled luxuriously in a pile of + fresh white linen, revelling in the cleanliness of the newly + ironed fabrics. Into what fits of contemplation have we + fallen before such windows, while the coquettish laundresses + struck attitudes at the ironing boards, under the mistaken + impression that we were admiring them." It was also related + of Baudelaire that, "going for the first time to a house, he + is restless and uneasy until he has seen the household cat. + But when he sees it, he takes it up, kisses and strokes it, + and is so completely absorbed in it, that he makes no answer + to what is said to him." + </p> + <p> + Professor Huxley's notorious fondness for cats was a fad + which he shared with Paul de Koch, the novelist, who, at one + time, kept as many as thirty cats in his house. Many + descriptions of them are to be found scattered through his + novels. His chief favorite, Fromentin, lived eleven years + with him. + </p> + <p> + Pierre Loti has written a charming and most touching history + of two of his cats—Moumette Blanche and Moumette + Chinoise—which all true cat-lovers should make a point + of reading. + </p> + <p> + Algernon Swinburne, the poet, is devoted to cats. His + favorite is named Atossa. Robert Southey was an ardent lover + of cats. Most people have read his letter to his friend + Bedford, announcing the death of one. "Alas, Grosvenor," he + wrote, "this day poor Rumpel was found dead, after as long + and happy a life as cat could wish for, if cats form wishes + on that subject. His full titles were: The Most Noble, the + Archduke Rumpelstiltzchen, Marcus Macbum, Earl Tomlefnagne, + Baron Raticide, Waowhler and Scratch. There should be a + court-mourning in Catland, and if the Dragon (your pet cat) + wear a black ribbon round his neck, or a band of crape <i>a + la militaire</i> round one of his fore paws it will be but a + becoming mark of respect." Then the poet-laureate adds, "I + believe we are each and all, servants included, more sorry + for his loss, or, rather, more affected by it, than any of us + would like to confess." + </p> + <p> + Josh Billings called his favorite cat William, because he + considered no shorter name fitted to the dignity of his + character. "Poor old man," he remarked one day, to a friend, + "he has fits now, so I call him Fitz-William." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH6"><!-- CH6 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CATS IN ENGLAND + </center> + <p> + If the growing fancy for cats in this country is benefiting + the feline race as a whole, they have to thank the English + people for it. For certain cats in England are held at a + value that seems preposterous to unsophisticated Americans. + At one cat and bird show, held at the Crystal Palace, near + London, some of the cats were valued at thirty-five hundred + pounds sterling ($17,500)—as much as the price of a + first-class race-horse. + </p> + <p> + For more than a quarter of a century National Cat Shows have + been held at Crystal Palace and the Westminster Aquarium, + which have given great stimulus to the breeding of fine cats, + and "catteries" where high-priced cats and kittens are raised + are common throughout the country. + </p> + <p> + England was the first, too, to care for lost and deserted + cats and dogs. At Battersea there is a Temporary Home for + both these unfortunates, where between twenty and twenty-five + thousand dogs and cats are sheltered and fed. The objects of + this home, which is supported entirely by voluntary + subscriptions, are to restore lost pets to their owners, to + find suitable homes for unclaimed cats and dogs, and to + painlessly destroy useless and diseased ones. There is a + commodious cat's house where pets may be boarded during their + owner's absence; and a separate house where lost and deserted + felines are sheltered, fed, and kindly tended. + </p> + <p> + Since long before Whittington became Lord Mayor of London, + indeed, cats have been popular in England: for did not the + law protect them? As to the truth of the story of + Whittington's cat, there has been much earnest discussion. + Although Whittington lived from about 1360 to 1425, the story + seems to have been pretty generally accepted for three + hundred years after his death. A portrait still exists of + him, with one hand holding a cat, and when his old house was + remodelled in recent times, a carved stone was found in it + showing a boy with a cat in his arms. Several similar tales + have been found, it is argued, in which the heroes in + different countries have started to make a fortune by selling + a cat. But as rats and mice were extremely common then, and + it has been shown that a single pair of rats will in three + years multiply into over six hundred thousand, which will eat + as much as sixty-four thousand men, why shouldn't a cat be + deemed a luxury even for a king's palace? The argument that + the cat of Whittington was a "cat," or boat used for carrying + coal, is disproved by the fact that no account of such + vessels in Whittington's time can be found, and also that the + trade in coal did not begin in Europe for some time + afterward. And there really seems nothing improbable in the + story that at a time when a kitten big enough to kill mice + brought fourpence in England, such an animal, taken to a + rat-infested, catless country, might not be sold for a sum + large enough to start an enterprising youth in trade. Surely, + the beginnings of some of our own railroad kings and + financiers may as well look doubtful to future generations. + </p> + <p> + It is a pretty story—that of Whittington; how he rose + from being a mere scullion at fourteen, to being "thrice Lord + Mayor of London." According to what are claimed to be + authentic documents, the story is something more than a + nursery tale, and runs thus: Poor Dick Whittington was born + at Shropshire, of such very poor parents that the boy, being + of an ambitious nature, left home at fourteen, and walked to + London, where he was taken into the hospital of St. John at + Clerkenwell, in a menial capacity. The prior, noticing his + good behavior and diligent conduct, took a fancy to him, and + obtained him a position in a Mr. Fitzwarren's household on + Tower Hill. For some time at this place his prospects did not + improve; he was nothing but a scullion, ridiculed and + disliked by the cook and other servants. Add to this the fact + that an incredible swarm of mice and rats infested the + miserable room in which he slept, and it would seem that he + was indeed a "poor Richard." One fortunate day, however, he + conceived the idea of buying a cat, and as good luck would + have it, he was enabled within a few days to earn a penny or + two by blacking the boots of a guest at the house. That day + he met a woman with a cat for sale, and after some dickering + (for she asked more money for it than the boy possessed in + the world), Dick Whittington carried home his cat and put it + in a cupboard or closet opening from his room. That night + when he retired he let the cat out of the cupboard, and she + evidently had "no end of fun"; for, according to these + authentic accounts, "she destroyed all the vermin which + ventured to make their appearance." For some time after that + she passed her days in the cupboard (in hiding from the cook) + and her nights in catching mice. + </p> + <p> + And then came the change. Mr. Fitzwarren was fitting out a + vessel for Algiers, and kindly offered all his servants a + chance to send something to barter with the natives. Poor + Dick had nothing but his cat, but the commercial instinct was + even then strong within him, and with an enterprise worthy of + the early efforts of any of our self-made men, he decided to + send that, and accordingly placed it, "while the tears run + plentifully down his cheeks," in the hands of the master of + the vessel. She must have been a most exemplary cat, for by + the time they had reached Algiers, the captain was so fond of + her that he allowed no one to handle her but himself. Not + even he, however, expected to turn her into money; but the + opportunity soon came. + </p> + <p> + At a state banquet, given by the Dey, the captain and his + officers were astonished to notice that rats and mice ran + freely in and out, stealing half the choice food, which was + spread on the carpet; and this was a common, every-day + occurrence. The captain saw his, or Whittington's, + opportunity, and stated that he knew a certain remedy for + this state of affairs; whereupon he was invited to dinner + next day, to which he carried the cat, and the natural + consequence ensued. This sudden and swift extermination of + the pests drove the Dey and his court half frantic with + delight; and the captain, who must have been the original + progenitor of the Yankee race, drove a sharp bargain by + assuming to be unwilling to part with the cat, so that the + Dey finally "sent on board his ship the choicest commodities, + consisting of gold, jewels, and silks." + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, things had gone from bad to worse with the youth, + destined to become not only Lord Mayor of London, but the + envy and admiration of future generations of youths; and he + made up his mind to run away from his place. This he did, but + while he was on his way to more rural scenes, he sat down on + a stone at the foot of Highgate Hill (a stone that still + remains marked as "Whittington's Stone") and paused to + reflect on his prospects. His thoughts turned back to the + home he had left, where he had at least plenty to eat, and, + although the "authentic reports" use a great many words to + tell us so, the boy was homesick. Just then the sound of Bow + Bells reached him, and to his youthful fancy seemed to call + him back:— + </p> + <pre> + "Return, return, Whittington; + Thrice Lord Mayor of London." +</pre> + <p> + Thus the old tale hath it. At any rate, the boy gave up the + idea of flight and went back to Mr. Fitzwarren's house. The + second night after, his master sent for him in the midst of + one of the cook's tirades, and going to the "parlour" he was + apprised of his sudden wealth; because, added to the rest of + his good luck, that captain happened to be an honest man. And + then he went into trade and married the daughter of Mr. + Fitzwarren and became Lord Mayor of London, and lived even + happier ever after than they do in most fairy tales. And + everybody, even the cook, admired and loved him after he had + money and position, as has been known to happen outside of + fairy tales. + </p> + <p> + Whether or not cats in England owe anything of their position + to-day to the Whittington story, it is certain that they have + more really appreciating friends there than in any other + country. The older we grow in the refinements of + civilization, the more we value the finely bred cat. In + England it has long been the custom to register the pedigree + of cats as carefully as dog-fanciers in this country do with + their fancy pets. Some account of the Cat Club Stud Book and + Register will be found in the next chapter. Queen Victoria, + and the Princess of Wales, and indeed many members of the + nobility are cat-lovers, and doubtless this fact influences + the general sentiment in England. + </p> + <p> + Among the most devoted of Pussy's English admirers is the + Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison, who is the happy possessor of + some of the most perfect dogs and cats that have graced the + bench. She lives at Kepwick Park, in her stately home in + Yorkshire—a lovely spot, commanding a delightful view + of picturesque Westmoreland on one side and on the other + three surrounded and sheltered by hills and moors. Some of + her pets go with her, however, to her flat in Queen Anne's + Mansions, and even to her residence in Calcutta. It is at + Kepwick Park that Mrs. McLaren Morrison has her celebrated + "catteries." Here there are magnificent blue, black and + silver and red Persians; snowy white, blue-eyed beauties; + grandly marked English tabbies; handsome blue Russians, with + their gleaming yellow-topaz eyes; some Chinese cats, with + their long, edge-shaped heads, bright golden eyes, and shiny, + short-haired black fur; and a pair of Japanese pussies, pure + white and absolutely without tails. One of the handsomest + specimens of the feline race ever seen is her blue Persian, + Champion Monarch, who, as a kitten in 1893, won the gold + medal at the Crystal Palace given for the best pair of + kittens in the show, and the next year the Beresford + Challenge Cup at Cruft's Show, for the best long-haired cat, + besides taking many other honors. Among other well-known + prize winners are the champions Snowball and Forget-me-not, + both pure white, with lovely turquoise-blue eyes. Of Champion + Nizam (now dead) that well-known English authority on cats, + Mr. A.A. Clark, said his was the grandest head of any cat he + had ever seen. Nizam was a perfect specimen of that rare and + delicate breed of cats, a pure chinchilla. The numberless + kittens sporting all day long are worthy of the art of Madame + Henriette Ronner, and one could linger for hours in these + delightful and most comfortable catteries watching their + gambols. The gentle mistress of this fair and most + interesting domain, the Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison herself, + is one of the most attractive and fascinating women of the + day—one who adds to great personal beauty all the charm + of mental culture and much travel. She has made Kepwick Park + a veritable House Beautiful with the rare curios and art + treasures collected with her perfect taste in the many lands + she has visited, and it is as interesting and enjoyable to a + virtuoso as it is to an animal lover. Mrs. McLaren Morrison + exhibits at all the cat shows, often entering as many as + twenty-five cats. Other English ladies who exhibit largely + are Mrs. Herring, of Lestock House, and Miss Cockburn + Dickinson, of Surrey. Mrs. Herring's Champion Jimmy is very + well known as a first prize-winner in many shows. He is a + short-haired, exquisitely marked silver tabby valued at two + thousand pounds ($10,000). + </p> + <p> + Another feline celebrity also well known to frequenters of + English cat shows, is Madame L. Portier's magnificent and + colossal Blue Boy, whose first appearance into this world was + made on the day sacred to St. Patrick, 1895. He has a fine + pedigree, and was raised by Madame Portier herself. Blue Boy + commenced his career as a show cat, or rather kitten, at + three months old, when he was awarded a first prize, and when + the judge told his mistress that if he fulfilled his early + promise he would make a grand cat. This he has done, and is + now one of the finest specimens of his kind in England. He + weighs over seventeen pounds, and always has affixed to his + cage on the show-bench this request, "Please do not lift this + cat by the neck; he is too heavy." He has long dark blue fur, + with a ruff of a lighter shade and brilliant topaz eyes. + Already Blue Boy has taken many prizes. He is a gelded cat + and one of the fortunate cats who have "Not for Sale" after + their names in the show catalogues. + </p> + <p> + To Mrs. C. Hill's beautiful long-haired Patrick Blue fell the + honor, at the Crystal Palace Show in 1896, of a signed and + framed photograph of the Prince of Wales, presented by his + Royal Highness for the best long-haired cat in the show, + irrespective of sex or nationality. Besides the prize given + by the Prince, Patrick Blue was the proud winner of the + Beresford Challenge Cup for the best blue long-haired cat, + and the India Silver Bowl for the best Persian. He also was + born on St. Patrick's Day, hence his name. He was bred by + Mrs. Blair Maconochie, his father, Blue Ruin I, being a + celebrated gold medallist. His mother, Sylvia, who belongs to + Mrs. Maconochie, has never been shown, her strong point being + her lovely color, which is most happily reproduced in her + perfect son. Patrick Blue has all the many charms of a petted + cat, and was undoubtedly one of the prominent attractions of + the first Championship Show of the National Cat Club in 1896. + </p> + <p> + Silver Lambkin is another very famous English cat, owned by + Miss Gresham, of Surrey. Princess Ranee, owned by Miss + Freeland, of Mottisfont, near Romney; Champion Southsea + Hector, owned by Miss Sangster, at Southsea; champions Prince + Victor and Shelly, of Kingswood (both of whom have taken no + end of prizes), are other famous English cats. + </p> + <p> + Topso, a magnificent silver tabby male, belonging to Miss + Anderson Leake, of Dingley Hill, was at one time the best + long-haired silver tabby in England, and took the prize on + that account in 1887; his sons, daughters, grandsons, and + granddaughters, have all taken prizes at Crystal Palace in + the silver tabby classes, since that time. + </p> + <p> + Lady Marcus Beresford has for the last fifteen years made + quite a business of the breeding and rearing of cats. At + Bishopsgate, near Egham, she has what is without doubt the + finest cattery. "I have applications from all parts of the + world for my cats and kittens," said Lady Marcus, in a talk + about her hobby, "and I may tell you that it is largely + because of this that I founded the Cat Club, which has for + its object the general welfare of the cat and the improvement + of the breed. My catteries were established in 1890, and at + one time I had as many as 150 cats and kittens. Some of my + pets live in a pretty cottage covered with creepers, which + might well be called Cat Cottage. No expense has been spared + in the fittings of the rooms, and every provision is made for + warmth and ventilation. One room is set apart for the girl + who takes entire charge of and feeds the pussies. She has a + boy who works with her and performs the rougher tasks. There + is a small kitchen for cooking the meals for the cats, and + this is fitted with every requisite. On the walls are racks + to hold the white enamelled bowls and plates used for the + food. There is a medicine chest, which contains everything + that is needful for prompt and efficacious treatment in case + pussy becomes sick. On the wall are a list of the names and a + full description of all the inmates of the cattery, and a set + of rules to be observed by both the cats and their + attendants. These rules are not ignored, and it is a tribute + to the intelligence of the cat to see how carefully pussy can + become amenable to discipline, if once given to understand of + what that discipline consists. + </p> + <p> + "Then there is a garden cattery. I think this is the + prettiest of all. It is covered with roses and ivy. In this + there are three rooms, provided with shelves and all other + conveniences which can add to the cats' comfort and + amusement. The residences of the male cats are most complete, + for I have given them every attention possible. Each male cat + has his separate sleeping apartments, closed with wire and + with a 'run' attached. Close at hand is a large, square grass + 'run,' and in this each gentleman takes his daily but + solitary exercise. One of the stringent rules of the cattery + is that no two males shall ever be left together, and I know + that with my cats if this rule were not observed, both in + letter and precept, it would be a case of 'when Greek meets + Greek.' + </p> + <p> + "I vary the food for my cats as much as possible. One day we + will have most appetizing bowls of fish and rice. At the + proper time you can see these standing in the cat kitchen + ready to be distributed. Another day these bowls will be + filled with minced meat. In the very hot weather a good deal + of vegetable matter is mixed with the food. Swiss milk is + given, so there is no fear of its turning sour. For some time + I have kept a goat on the premises, the milk from which is + given to the delicate or younger kittens. + </p> + <p> + "I have started many of my poorer friends in cat breeding, + and they have proved conclusively how easily an addition to + their income can be made, not only by breeding good Persian + kittens and selling them, but by exhibiting them at the + various shows and taking prizes. But of course there is a + fashion in cats, as in everything else. When I started + breeding blue Persians about fifteen years ago they were very + scarce, and I could easily get twenty-five dollars apiece for + my kittens. Now this variety is less sought after, and + self-silvers, commonly called chinchillas, are in demand." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH7"><!-- CH7 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CAT CLUBS AND CAT SHOWS + </center> + <p> + The annual cat shows in England, which have been held + successively for more than a quarter of a century, led to the + establishment in 1887 of a National Cat Club, which has + steadily grown in membership and interest, and by the + establishment of the National Stud Book and Register has + greatly raised the standard of felines in the mother country. + It has many well-known people as members, life members, or + associates; and from time to time people distinguished in the + cat world have been added as honorary members. + </p> + <p> + The officers of the National Cat Club of England, since its + reconstruction in March, 1898, are as follows:— + </p> + <p> + <i>Presidents.</i>—Her Grace the Duchess of Bedford; + Lord Marcus Beresford. + </p> + <p> + <i>Vice-presidents.</i>—Lily, Duchess of Marlborough, + now Lady Wm. Beresford; the Countess of Warwick; Lady + Granville Gordon; Hon. Mrs. McL. Morrison; Madame Ronner; Mr. + Isaac Woodiwiss; the Countess of Sefton; Lady Hothfield; the + Hon. Mrs. Brett; Mr. Sam Woodiwiss; Mr. H.W. Bullock. + </p> + <p> + <i>President of Committee.</i>—Mr. Louis Wain. + </p> + <p> + <i>Committee</i>.—Lady Marcus Beresford; Mrs. Balding; + Mr. Sidney Woodiwiss; Mr. Hawkins; Mrs. Blair Maconochie; + Mrs. Vallance; Mr. Brackett; Mr. F. Gresham. + </p> + <p> + <i>Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer</i>.—Mrs. Stennard + Robinson. + </p> + <p> + This club has a seal and a motto: "Beauty lives by kindness." + It publishes a stud book in which are registered pedigrees + and championship wins which are eligible for it. Only wins + obtained from shows held under N.C.C. rules are recorded free + of charge. The fee for ordinary registration is one shilling + per cat, and the stud book is published annually. There are + over two thousand cats now entered in this National Cat Club + Stud Book, the form of entry being as follows (L.F. means + long-haired female; C.P., Crystal Palace):— + </p> + <hr> + <p> + No. 1593, Mimidatzi, L.F. Silver Tabby. + </p> + <p> + Miss Anna F. Gardner, Hamswell House, near Bath, shown as + Mimi. + </p> + <p> + Bred by Miss How, Bridgeyate, near Bristol. Born April, 1893. + Alive. + </p> + <p> + Sire, Blue Boy the Great of Islington, 1090 (Mrs H.B. + Thompson). + </p> + <p> + Dam, Boots of Bridgeyate, 1225 (Miss How). + </p> + <p> + Prizes won—1st Bilton, 2nd, C.P. 1893, Kitten Class. + </p> + <hr> + <p> + No. 1225, Boots of Bridgeyate. L.F. Silver Tabby. + </p> + <p> + Miss E. How, Bridgeyate House, Warmly, Bristol. + </p> + <p> + Former owner, Mrs. Foote, 43 Palace Gardens, Kensington. + </p> + <p> + Born March, 1892. Alive. + </p> + <p> + Some of the cats entered have records of prizes covering + nearly half a page of the book. The advantage of such a book + to cat owners can be readily seen. A cat once entered never + changes its number, no matter how many owners he may have, + and his name cannot be changed after December 31 of the year + in which he is registered. + </p> + <p> + The more important rules of the English National Cat Club are + given in condensed form as follows:— + </p> + <p> + The name is "The National Cat Club." + </p> + <p> + <i>Objects</i>: To promote honesty in the breeding of cats, + so as to insure purity in each distinct breed or variety; to + determine the classification required, and to insure the + adoption of such classification by breeders, exhibitors, + judges, and the committees of all cat shows; to encourage + showing and breeding by giving championship and other prizes, + and otherwise doing all in its power to protect and advance + the interest of cats and their owners. The National Cat Club + shall frame a separate set of rules for cat shows to be + called "National Cat Club Rules," and the committees of those + cat shows to which the rules are given, shall be called upon + to sign a guarantee to the National Cat Club binding them to + provide good penning and effectual sanitation, also to the + punctual payment of prize money and to the proper + adjudication of prizes. + </p> + <p> + <i>Stud Book</i>: The National Cat Club shall keep a stud + book. + </p> + <p> + <i>Neuter Classes</i>.—For gelded cats. + </p> + <p> + <i>Kitten Classes</i>.—Single entries over three and + under eight months. + </p> + <p> + <i>Kitten Brace</i>.—Kittens of any age. + </p> + <p> + <i>Brace</i>.—For two cats of any age. + </p> + <p> + <i>Team</i>.—For three or more cats, any age. + </p> + <p> + In Paris, although cats have not been commonly appreciated as + in England, there is an increasing interest in them, and cat + shows are now a regular feature of the Jardin d'Acclimation. + This suggests the subject of the cat's social position in + France. Since the Revolution the animal has conquered in this + country "<i>toutes les liberties</i>," excepting that of + wearing an entire tail, for in many districts it is the + fashion to cut the caudal appendage short. + </p> + <p> + In Paris cats are much cherished wherever they can be without + causing too much unpleasantness with the landlord. The system + of living in flats is not favorable to cat culture, for the + animal, not having access either to the tiles above or to the + gutter below, is apt to pine for fresh air, and the society + of its congeners. Probably in no other city do these + creatures lie in shop windows and on counters with such an + arrogant air of proprietorship. In restaurants, a very large + and fat cat is kept as an advertisement of the good feeding + to be obtained on the premises. There is invariably a cat in + a <i>charbonnier's</i> shop, and the animal is generally one + that was originally white, but long ago came to the + conclusion that all attempts to keep itself clean were + hopeless. Its only consolation is that it is never blacker + than its master. It is well known that the Persians and + Angoras are much esteemed in Paris and are, to some extent, + bred for sale. In the provinces, French cats are usually + low-bred animals, with plebeian heads and tails, the + stringlike appearance of the latter not being improved by + cropping. Although not generally esteemed as an article of + food in France, there are still many people scattered + throughout the country who maintain that a <i>civet de + chat</i> is as good, or better, than a <i>civet de + lievre</i>. + </p> + <p> + M. François Coppée's fondness for cats as pets + is so well known that there was great fitness in placing his + name first upon the jury of awards at the 1896 cat show in + Paris. Such other well-known men as Émile Zola, + André Theuriet, and Catulle Mendes, also figured on + the list. There is now an annual "Exposition Feline + Internationale." + </p> + <p> + In this country the first cat show of general interest was + held at Madison Square Garden, New York, in May, 1895. Some + years before, there had been a cat show under the auspices of + private parties in Boston, and several minor shows had been + held at Newburgh, N.Y., and other places. But the New York + shows were the first to attract general attention. One + hundred and seventy-six cats were exhibited by one hundred + and twenty-five owners, besides several ocelots, wild cats, + and civets. For some reason the show at Madison Square Garden + in March, 1896, catalogued only one hundred and thirty-two + cats and eighty-two owners. Since that time there have been + no large cat shows in New York. + </p> + <p> + There have been several cat shows in Boston since 1896, but + these are so far only adjuncts to poultry and pigeon shows. + Great interest has been manifest in them, however, and the + entries have each year run above a hundred. Some magnificent + cats are exhibited, although as a rule the animals shown are + somewhat small, many kittens being placed there for sale by + breeders. + </p> + <p> + Several attempts to start successful cat clubs in this + country have been made. At the close of the New York show in + 1896, an American Cat Club was organized for the purpose "of + investigating, ascertaining, and keeping a record of the + pedigrees of cats, and of instituting, maintaining, + controlling, and publishing a stud book, or book of registry + of such kind of domestic animals in the United States of + America and Canada, and of promoting and holding exhibitions + of such animals, and generally for the purpose of improving + the breed thereof, and educating the public in its knowledge + of the various breeds and varieties of cats." + </p> + <p> + The officers were as follows:— + </p> + <p> + <i>President</i>.—Rush S. Huidekoper, 154 E. 57th St., + New York City. + </p> + <p> + <i>Vice-presidents</i>.—W.D. Mann, 208 Fifth Ave., New + York City; Mrs. E.N. Barker, Newburgh, N.Y. + </p> + <p> + <i>Secretary-treasurer</i>.—James T. Hyde, 16 E. 23d + St., New York City. + </p> + <p> + <i>Executive Committee</i>.—T. Farrar Rackham, E. + Orange, N.J.; Miss Edith Newbold, Southampton, L.I.; Mrs. + Harriet C. Clarke, 154 W. 82d St., New York City; Charles R. + Pratt, St. James Hotel, New York City; Joseph W. Stray, 229 + Division St., Brooklyn, N.Y. + </p> + <p> + More successful than this club, however, is the Beresford Cat + Club formed in Chicago in the winter of 1899. The president + is Mrs. Clinton Locke, who is a member of the English cat + clubs, and whose kennel in Chicago contains some of the + finest cats in America. The Beresford Cat Club has the + sanction of John G. Shortall, of the American Humane Society, + and on its honorary list are Miss Agnes Repplier, Madame + Ronner, Lady Marcus Beresford, Miss Helen Winslow, and Mr. + Louis Wain. + </p> + <p> + At their cat shows, which are held annually, prizes are + offered for all classes of cats, from the common feline of + the back alley up to the aristocratic resident of milady's + boudoir. + </p> + <p> + The Beresford Club Cat shows are the most successful of any + yet given in America. One hundred and seventy-eight prizes + were awarded in the show of January, 1900, and some + magnificent cats were shown. It is said by those who are in a + position to know that there are no better cats shown in + England now than can be seen at the Beresford Show in + Chicago. The exhibits cover short and long haired cats of all + colors, sizes, and ages, with Siamese cats, Manx cats, and + Russian cats. At the show in January, 1900, Mrs. Clinton + Locke exhibited fourteen cats of one color, and Mrs. Josiah + Cratty five white cats. This club numbers one hundred and + seventy members and has a social position and consequent + strength second to none in America. It is a fine, honorable + club, which has for its objects the protection of the Humane + Society and the caring for all cats reported as homeless or + in distress. It aims also to establish straightforward and + honest dealings among the catteries and to do away with the + humbuggery which prevails in some quarters about the sales + and valuation of high-bred cats. This club cannot fail to be + of great benefit to such as want to carry on an honest + industry by the raising and sale of fine cats. It will also + improve the breeding of cats in this country, and thereby + raise the standard and promote a more general intelligence + among the people with regard to cats. Some of the best people + in the United States belong to the Beresford Club, the + membership of which is by no means confined to Chicago; on + the contrary, the club is a national one and the officers and + board of directors are:— + </p> + <p> + <i>President.</i>—Mrs. Clinton Locke. + </p> + <p> + <i>1st Vice-president.</i>—Mrs W. Eames Colburn. + </p> + <p> + <i>2d Vice-president.</i>—Mrs. F.A. Howe. + </p> + <p> + <i>Corresponding Secretary.</i>—Mrs. Henry C. Clark. + </p> + <p> + <i>Recording Secretary</i>.—Miss Lucy Claire Johnstone. + </p> + <p> + <i>Treasurer</i>.—Mrs. Charles Hampton Lane. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Elwood H. Tolman. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. J.H. Pratt. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mattie Fisk Green. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. F.A. Story. + </p> + <p> + Miss Louise L. Fergus. + </p> + <p> + The club is anxious to have members all over the United + States, just as the English cat clubs do. The non-resident + annual fees are only one dollar, and a member has to be + proposed by one and endorsed by two other members. The + register cats for the stud book are entered at one dollar + each, and it is proposed to give shows once a year. The main + objects of the club are to improve the breeds of fancy cats + in America, to awaken a more general interest in them, and to + secure better treatment for the ordinary common cat. The + shows will be given for the benefit of the Humane Society. + </p> + <p> + The Chicago Cat Club has done excellent work also, having + established a cat home, or refuge, for stray, homeless, or + diseased cats, with a department for boarding pet cats during + the absence of their owners. It is under the personal care + and direction of Dr. C.A. White, 78 E. 26th Street. The first + cat to be admitted there was one from Cleveland, Ohio, which + was to be boarded for three months during the absence of its + owner in Europe and also to be treated for disease. This club + was incorporated under the state laws of Illinois, on January + 26, 1899. In connection with it is a children's cat club, + which has for its primary object the teaching of kindness to + animals by awakening in the young people an appreciative love + for cats. At the show of the Chicago Cat Club, small dogs and + cavies are exhibited also, the Cavy Club and the Pet Dog Club + having affiliated with the Chicago Cat Club. + </p> + <p> + The president of the Chicago Cat Club is Mrs. Leland Norton, + of the Drexel Kennels, at 4011 Drexel Boulevard, Chicago. The + corresponding secretary is Mrs. Laura Daunty Pelham, 315 + Interocean Building, and the other officers are: + Vice-president, Miss Gertrude Estabrooks; recording + secretary, Miss Jennie Van Allen; and treasurer, Mrs. Ella B. + Shepard. Membership is only one dollar a year, and the + registration fee in the Chicago stud book fifty cents for + each cat. + </p> + <p> + The cat shows already held and the flourishing state of our + cat clubs have proved that America has as fine, if not finer, + cats than can be found in England, and that interest in + finely bred cats is on the increase in this country. The + effect of the successful cat clubs and cat shows must be to + train intelligent judges and to raise the standard of cats in + this country. It will also tend to make the cat shows of such + a character that kind-hearted owners need not hesitate to + enter their choicest cats. As yet, however, the judging at + cat shows is not so well managed as in England. It should be + a rule that the judges of cats should not only understand + their fine points, but should be in sympathy with the little + pets. + </p> + <p> + Cat dealers who have a number of cats entered for + competition, should not be allowed on the board of judges. In + England, the cats to be judged are taken by classes into a + tent for the purpose, and the door is fastened against all + but the judges; whereas over here the cats are too often + taken out of their cages in the presence of a crowd of + spectators and judged on a table or some public place, + thereby frightening the timid ones and bringing annoyance to + the owners. + </p> + <p> + Again, there should be several judges. In England there are + seven, including two or three women, and these are assigned + to different classes: Mr. Harrison Weir, F.R.H.S., the + well-known authority on cats, and Louis Wain, the well-known + cat artist, are among them. In this country there are a + number of women who are not dealers, but who are fully posted + in the necessary qualifications for a high-bred cat. American + cat shows should have at least three judges, one of whom, at + least, should be a woman. A cat should be handled gently and + kept as calm as possible during the judging. Women are + naturally more gentle in their methods, and more + tenderhearted. When my pets are entered for competition, may + some wise, kind woman have the judging of them! + </p> + <p> + In judging a cat the quality and quantity of its fur is the + first thing considered. In a long-haired cat this includes + the "lord mayor's chain," or frill, the tail, and, most + important of all, the ear-tufts. The tufts between the toes + and the flexibility of the tail are other important points. + The shape of head, eyes, and body are also carefully noted. A + short-haired cat is judged first for color, then for eyes, + head, symmetry, and ears. + </p> + <p> + In all cats the head should show breadth between the eyes. + The eyes should be round and open. White cats to be really + valuable should have blue eyes (without deafness); black cats + should have yellow eyes; other cats should have pea-green + eyes, or in some cases, as in the brown, self-colored eyes. + The nose should be short and tapering. The teeth should be + good, and the claws flat. The lower leg should be straight, + and the upper hind leg lie at closed angles. The foot should + be small and round (in the maltese, pointed). A good cat has + a light frame, but a deep chest; a slim, graceful, and fine + neck; medium-sized ears with rounded tips. The croup should + be square and high; the tail of a short-haired cat long and + tapering, and of a long-haired cat broad and bent over at the + end. + </p> + <p> + The good results of a cat show are best told in a few words + by one who has acted as judge at an American exhibition. + </p> + <p> + "One year," he said, "people have to learn that there is such + a thing as a cat; the next they come to the show and learn to + tell the different breeds; another year they learn the + difference between a good cat and a poor one; and the next + year they become exhibitors, and tell the judges how to award + the premiums." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH8"><!-- CH8 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING HIGH-BRED CATS IN AMERICA + </center> + <p> + One of the first American women to start a "cattery" in this + country was Mrs. Clinton Locke, wife of the rector of Grace + Church, Chicago. As a clergyman's wife she has done a great + deal of good among the various charities of her city simply + from the income derived from her kennels. She has been very + generous in gifts of her kittens to other women who have made + the raising of fine cats a means to add to a slender income, + and has sent beautiful cats all over the United States, to + Mexico, and even to Germany. Under her hospitable roof at + 2825 Indiana Avenue is a cat family of great distinction. + First, there is The Beadle, a splendid blue male with amber + eyes, whose long pedigree appears in the third volume of the + N.C.C.S.B. under the number 1872, sired by Glaucus, and his + dam was Hawthorne Bounce. His pedigree is traced for many + generations. He was bred by Mrs. Dean of Hawthornedene, + Slough, England. The Beadle took first prize at the cat show + held in Chicago in 1896. He also had honorable mention at two + cat shows in England when a kitten, under the name of Bumble + Bee. Lord Gwynne is a noble specimen, a long-haired white cat + with wonderful blue eyes. He was bred from Champion Bundle, + and his mother was out of The Masher, No. 1027, winner of + many championships. His former owner was Mrs. Davies, of + Upper Cattesham. Mrs. Locke purchased him from A.A. Clarke, + one of the best judges of cats in England. Lord Gwynne took a + prize at the Brighton Cat Show in England in 1895, as a + kitten. The father of The Beadle's mate, Rosalys, was the + famous "Bluebeard." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Locke's chinchillas are the finest ones in this country. + Atossa, the mother cat, has a wonderful litter of kittens. + She was bred to Lord Argent, one of the three celebrated stud + chinchillas in England. She arrived in this country in July, + and ten days after gave birth to her foreign kittens. One of + the kittens has been sold to Mrs. Dr. Forsheimer, of + Cincinnati, and another to Mrs. W.E. Colburn, of South + Chicago. The others Mrs. Locke will not part with at any + price. + </p> + <p> + Smerdis, the grand chinchilla male brought over as a future + mate for Atossa, is a royal cat. He looks as though he had + run away from Bengal, but, like all of Mrs. Locke's cats, he + is gentle and loving. He is the son of Lord Southampton, the + lightest chinchilla stud in England (N.C.C.S.B. 1690), and + his mother is Silver Spray, No. 1542. His maternal + grandparents are Silver King and Harebell, and his + great-grandparents Perso and Beauty,—all registered + cats. On his father's side a pedigree of three generations + can be traced. One of her more recent importations is Lord + Gwynne's mate, Lady Mertice, a beautiful long-haired cat with + blue eyes. Other famous cats of hers have been Bettina, Nora, + Doc, Vashti, Marigold, Grover, and Wendell. + </p> + <p> + One of Mrs Locke's treasures is a <i>bona fide</i> cat mummy, + brought by Mrs. Locke from Egypt. It has been verified at the + Gizeh Museum to be four thousand years old. + </p> + <p> + It is fully twenty-five years since Mrs. Locke began to turn + her attention to fine cats, and when she imported her first + cat to Chicago there was only one other in the United States. + That one was Mrs. Edwin Brainard's Madam, a wonderful black, + imported from Spain. Her first long-haired cat was Wendell, + named for the friend who brought him from Persia, and his + descendants are now in the Lockehaven Cattery. Queen Wendella + is one of the most famous cats in America to-day, and mother + of the beautiful Lockehaven Quartette. These are all + descended from the first Wendell. The kittens in the + Lockehaven Quartette went to Mrs. S.S. Leach, Bonny Lea, New + London, Ct.; Miss Lucy Nichols, Ben Mahr Cattery, Waterbury, + Ct.; Miss Olive Watson, Warrensburg, Pa.; and Mrs. B.M. + Gladding, at Memphis, Tenn, Mrs. Locke's Lord Argent, + descended from Atossa and the famous Lord Argent, of England, + is a magnificent cat, while her Smerdis is the son of the + greatest chinchillas in the world. Rosalys II, now owned by + Mr. C.H. Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., was once her cat, and was + the daughter of Rosalys (owned by Miss Nichols, of Waterbury, + Ct), who was a granddaughter of the famous Bluebeard, of + England. These, with the beautiful brown tabby, Crystal, + owned by Mr. Jones, have all been prize winners. Lucy Claire + is a recent importation, who won second and third prizes in + England under the name of Baby Flossie. She is the daughter + of Duke of Kent and Topso, of Merevale. Her paternal + grandparents are Mrs. Herring's well-known champion, Blue + Jack, and Marney. The maternal grandparents are King Harry, a + prize winner at Clifton and Brighton, and Fluff. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Locke's cats are all imported. She has sometimes + purchased cats from Maine or elsewhere for people who did not + care to pay the price demanded for her fine kittens, but she + has never had in her own cattery any cats of American origin. + Her stock, therefore, is probably the choicest in America. + She always has from twenty to twenty-five cats, and the + cat-lover who obtains one of her kittens is fortunate indeed. + A beautiful pair of blacks in Mrs. Locke's cattery have the + most desirable shade of amber eyes, and are named "Blackbird" + and "St. Tudno"; she has also a choice pair of Siamese cats + called "Siam" and "Sally Ward." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Josiah Cratty, of Oak Park, has a cattery called the + "Jungfrau Katterie," and her cats are remarkably beautiful. + Her Bartimaeus and True Blue are magnificent white cats, + sired by Mrs. Locke's Lord Gwynne. + </p> + <p> + Miss L.C. Johnstone, of Chicago, has some of the handsomest + cats in the country. Cherie is a wonderful blue shaded cat; + Lord Humm is a splendid brown tabby; while Beauty Belle is an + exceedingly handsome white cat. Miss Johnstone takes great + pains with her cats, and is rewarded by having them rated + among the best in America. + </p> + <p> + Some of the beautiful cats which have been sent from Chicago + to homes elsewhere are Teddy Roosevelt, a magnificent white, + sired by Mrs. W.E. Colburn's Paris, and belonging to Mrs. L. + Kemp, of Huron, S. Dak.; Silver Dick, a gorgeous buff and + white, whose grandmother was Mrs. Colburn's Caprice, and who + is owned by Mrs. Porter L. Evans, of East St. Louis; Toby, a + pure white with green eyes, owned by Mrs. Elbert W. Shirk, of + Indianapolis; and Amytis, a chinchilla belonging to Mrs. S.S. + Leach, of New London, sired by Mrs. Locke's Smerdis, and the + daughter of Rosalys II. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cora Wallace, of East Brady, Pa., has Lord Ruffles, son + of the first Rosalys and The Beadle, formerly Bumble Bee. + Mrs. Fisk Greene, of Chicago, now owns a beautiful cat in + Bumble Bee, and another in Miss Merrylegs, a blue with golden + eyes, the daughter of Bumble Bee and Black Sapho. The Misses + Peacock, of Topeka, have a pair of whites called Prince Hilo + and Rosebud, the latter having blue eyes. Mrs. Frederick + Monroe, of Riverside, Ill., owns a remarkable specimen of a + genuine Russian cat, a perfect blue of extraordinary size. + Miss Elizabeth Knight, of Milwaukee, has a beautiful silver + tabby, Winifred, the daughter of Whychwood, Miss Kate Loraine + Gage's celebrated silver tabby, of Brewster, N.Y. The most + perfect "lavender blue" cat belongs to Miss Lucy E. Nichols, + of Waterbury, Ct., and is named Roscal. He has beautiful long + fur, with a splendid ruff and tail, and is a son of Rosalys + and The Beadle. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Leland Norton has a number of magnificent cats. It was + she who adopted Miss Frances Willard's "Tootsie," the famous + cat which made two thousand dollars for the temperance cause. + Miss Nella B. Wheatley has very fine kennels, and raises some + beautiful cats. Her Taffy is a beautiful buff and white + Angora, which has been very much admired. Her cats have been + sold to go to many other cities. Speaking from her own + experience Miss Wheatley says, "Raising Angoras is one of the + most fascinating of employments, and I have found, when + properly taken care of, they are among the most beautiful, + strong, intelligent, and playful of all animals." + </p> + <p> + Mrs. W.E. Colburn is another very successful owner of cat + kennels. She has had some of the handsomest cats in this + country, among which are "Paris," a magnificent white cat + with blue eyes, and his mother, "Caprice," who has borne a + number of wonderfully fine pure white Angoras with the most + approved shade of blue eyes. Her cattery is known as the + "Calumet Kennel," and there is no better judge of cats in the + country than Mrs. Colburn. + </p> + <p> + So much has been said of the cats which were "mascots" on the + ships during the Cuban War that it is hardly necessary to + speak of them. Tom, the mascot of the <i>Maine</i>, and + Christobal have been shown in several cities of the Union + since the war. + </p> + <p> + The most beautiful collection of brown tabbies is owned by + Mr. C.H. Jones, of Palmyra, N.Y., who has the "Crystal + Cattery." Crystal, the son of Mrs. E.M. Barker's "King + Humbert," is the champion brown tabby of America, and is a + magnificent creature, of excellent disposition and greatly + admired by cat fanciers everywhere. Mona Liza, his mate, and + Goozie and Bubbles make up as handsome a quartet of this + variety as one could wish to see. Goozie's tail is now over + twelve inches in circumference. Mr. Jones keeps about twenty + fine cats in stock all the time. + </p> + <p> + The most highly valued cat in America is Napoleon the Great, + whose owner has refused four thousand dollars for him. A + magnificent fellow he is too, with his bushy orange fur and + lionlike head. He is ten years old and weighs twenty-three + pounds, which is a remarkable weight in a male cat, only + gelded ones ordinarily running above fifteen pounds. Napoleon + was bred by a French nobleman, and was born at the Chateau + Fontainebleau, near Paris, in 1888. He is a pure French + Angora, which is shown by his long crinkly hair—so long + that it has to be frequently clipped to preserve the health + and comfort of the beautiful creature. This clipping is what + causes the uneven quality of fur which appears in his + picture. His mother was a famous cat, and his grandmother was + one of the grandest dams of France (no pun intended). The + latter lived to be nineteen years old, and consequently + Napoleon the Great is regarded by his owners as a mere youth. + He has taken first prizes and medals wherever he has been + exhibited, and at Boston, 1897, won the silver cup offered + for the best cat in the exhibition. + </p> + <p> + Another fine cat belonging to Mrs. Weed, is Marguerite, + mother of Le Noir, a beautiful black Angora, sired by + Napoleon the Great and owned by Mrs. Weed. Juno is Napoleon's + daughter, born in 1894, and is valued at fifteen hundred + dollars. When she was seven months old her owners refused two + hundred dollars for her. She is a tortoise-shell and white + French Angora, and a remarkably beautiful creature. All these + cats are great pets, and are allowed the freedom of the house + and barns, although when they run about the grounds there is + always a man in attendance. Six or seven thousand dollars' + worth of cats sporting on the lawn together is a rich sight, + but not altogether without risk. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Fabius M. Clarke's "Persia," a beautiful dark + chinchilla, is one of the finest cats in this country. She + began her career by taking special and first prizes at + Fastmay's Cat Show in England, as the best long-haired + kitten. She also took the first prize as a kitten at + Lancashire, and at the National Cat Show in New York in 1895. + She was bred in England; sire, King of Uhn; dam, Brunette, of + pure imported Persian stock. Mrs. Clarke brought her home in + January, 1895, and she is still worshipped as a family pet at + her New York home. "Sylvio" was also brought over at the same + time. He was a beautiful long-haired male silver tabby, and + bred by Mrs. A.F. Gardner. Sylvio was sired by the famous + Topso of Dingley (owned by Miss Leake), famous as the best + long-haired tabby in England. Sylvio's mother was Mimidatzi, + whose pedigree is given in the previous chapter. "Mimi's" + sire was the champion Blue Boy the Great, whose mother was + Boots of Bridgeyate, whose pedigree is also given in the + extract from the stud book. Sylvio took a first prize at the + New York Show, 1895, but unfortunately was poisoned before he + was a year old. This seems the greater pity, because he had a + remarkably fine pedigree, and gave promise of being one of + the best cats America has yet seen. + </p> + <p> + Persia is a handsome specimen of the fine blue chinchilla + class. She is quiet, amiable, and shows her high breeding in + her good manners and intelligence. Her tail is like a fox's + brush, and her ruff gladdens the heart of every cat fancier + that beholds her. She is an aristocratic little creature, and + seems to feel that she comes of famous foreign ancestry. Mrs. + Clarke makes great pets of her beautiful cats, and trains + them to do many a cunning trick. + </p> + <p> + Another cat which has won several prizes, and took the silver + bowl offered for the best cat and litter of kittens in the + 1895 cat show of New York is Ellen Terry, a handsome orange + and white, exhibited by Mrs. Fabius M. Clarke. At that show + she had seven beautiful kittens, and they all reposed in a + dainty white and yellow basket with the mother, delighting + the hearts of all beholders. She now belongs to Mrs. Brian + Brown, of Brooklyn. She is a well-bred animal, with a pretty + face and fine feathering. One of the kittens who won the + silver bowl in 1895 took the second prize for long-haired + white female in New York, in March, 1896. She is a beautiful + creature, known as Princess Dinazarde, and belongs to Mrs. + James S.H. Umsted, of New York. + </p> + <p> + Sylvia is still in Mrs. Clarke's possession, and is a + beautiful creature, dainty, refined, and very jealous of her + mistress's affection. Mrs. Clarke also owns a real Manx cat, + brought from the Isle of Man by Captain McKenzie. It acts + like a monkey, climbing up on mantels and throwing down + pictures and other small objects, in the regular monkey + spirit of mischief. It has many queer attributes, and hops + about like a rabbit. She also owns Sapho, who was bred by + Ella Wheeler Wilcox from her Madame Ref and Mr. Stevens's + Ajax, an uncommonly handsome white Angora. + </p> + <p> + The sire of Topso and Sylvia was Musjah, owned by Mr. + Ferdinand Danton, a New York artist. He was a magnificent + creature, imported from Algiers in 1894; a pure blue Persian + of uncommon size and beautiful coloring. Musjah was valued at + two hundred dollars, but has been stolen from Mr. Danton. + Probably his present owner will not exhibit him at future cat + shows. + </p> + <p> + Ajax is one of the finest white Angoras in this country. His + owner, Mr. D.W. Stevens, of West-field, Mass., has refused + five hundred dollars for him, and would not consider one + thousand dollars as a fair exchange for the majestic + creature. He was born in 1893, and is valued, not only for + his fine points, but because he is a family pet, with a fine + disposition and uncommon intelligence. At the New York show + in 1895, and at several other shows, he has won first prizes. + </p> + <p> + One of his sons bids fair to be as fine a cat as Ajax. This + is Sampson, bred by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Madame Ref, and + owned by Mrs. Brian Brown. Mr. Stevens has a number of other + high-bred cats, one of whom is Raby, a reddish black female, + with a red ruff. Another is Lady, who is pure white; and then + there are Monkey and Midget, who are black and white Angoras. + All of these cats are kept in a pen, half of which is within + the barn, and the other half out of doors and enclosed by + wire netting. Ajax roams over the house at will, and the + others pass some of the time there, but the entire + collection, sometimes numbering twenty-five, is too valuable + to be given the freedom of all outdoors. Both Mr. and Mrs. + Stevens are very fond of cats, and have made a study of them + in sickness and health. Some years ago, a malicious raid was + made on the pen, and every cat poisoned with the exception of + Raby, whose life was saved only by frequent and generous + doses of skunk's oil and milk. + </p> + <p> + At the first New York show, Miss Ethel Nesmith Anderson's + Chico, an imported Persian, took the second prize, after + Ajax, in the pure white, longhaired class. The third prize + was won by Snow, another imported Angora, belonging to Mr. + George A. Rawson, of Newton, Mass. Snow had already taken a + prize at Crystal Palace. He is a magnificent animal. Mr. + Rawson owns a number of beautiful cats, which are the pride + of his family, and bring visitors from all parts of the + country. His orange-colored, long-haired Dandy won first + prizes at the Boston shows of 1896 and 1897 in the gelded + class. He is beautifully marked, and has a disposition as + "childlike and bland" as the most exacting owner could wish. + Miss Puff is also owned by Mr. Rawson, and presents him with + beautiful white Angora kittens every year. The group of ten + white kittens, raised by him in 1896, gives some idea of the + beauty of these kittens: although the picture was taken with + a high wind blowing in their faces, causing one white beauty + to conceal all marks of identification except an ear, and + another to hide completely behind his playmates. + </p> + <p> + Mustapha was entered by Dr. Huidekoper in the first New York + show, but not for competition. He was a magnificent brindled + Persian gelded cat, six years old, who enjoyed the plaudits + of the multitude just as well as though he had taken first + prize. He was very fond of his master, but very shy with + strangers when at home. He slept on the library desk, or a + cushion next his master's bed whenever he could be alone with + the doctor, but at other times preferred his own company or + that of the cook. + </p> + <p> + Another cat that attracted a great deal of attention was + Master Pettet's Tommy, a white Persian, imported in 1889 and + valued at five hundred dollars, although no money + consideration could induce his owners to part with him. He + was brought from the interior of Persia, where he was + captured in a wild state. He was kept caged for over a year, + and would not be tamed; but at last he became domesticated, + and is now one of the dearest pets imaginable. His fur is + extremely long and soft, without a colored hair. His tail is + broad and carried proudly aloft, curling over toward his back + when walking. His face is full of intelligence: his ears + well-tipped and feathered, and his ruff a thing of beauty and + a joy forever. + </p> + <p> + King Max, a long-haired, black male, weighing thirteen pounds + at the age of one year, and valued at one thousand dollars, + took first prizes in Boston in January, 1897, '98, and '99. + He is owned by Mrs. E.R. Taylor, of Medford, Mass., and + attracts constant attention during shows. His fur is without + a single white hair and is a finger deep; his ruff encircles + his head like a great aureole. He is not only one of the most + beautiful cats I have ever seen, but one of the best-natured: + as his reputation for beauty spreads among visitors at the + show, everybody wants to see him, and he has no chance at all + for naps. Generally he is brought forward and taken from his + cage a hundred times a day; but not once does he show the + least sign of ill-temper, and even on the last day of the + show he keeps up a continual low purr of content and + happiness. Perhaps he knows how handsome he is. + </p> + <p> + Grover B., the Mascotte, is a Philadelphia cat who took the + twenty-five dollar gold medal in 1895, at the New York show, + as the heaviest white cat exhibited. He belongs to Mr. and + Mrs. W.P. Buchanan, and weighs over twenty pounds. He is a + thoroughbred, and is valued at one thousand dollars, having + been brought from the Isle of Malta, and he wears a + one-hundred-dollar gold collar. He is a remarkable cat, noted + particularly for his intelligence and amiability. He is very + dainty in his choice of food, and prefers to eat his dinners + in his high chair at the table. He has a fascinating habit of + feeding himself with his paws. He is very talkative just + before meal-times, and is versed in all the feline arts of + making one's self understood. He waits at the front door for + his master every night, and will not leave him all the + evening. He sleeps in a bed of his own, snugly wrapped up in + blankets, and he is admired by all who know him, not more for + his beauty than for his excellent deportment. He furnishes + one more proof that a properly trained and well-cared-for cat + has a large amount of common sense and appreciation. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett's tiger cat Dick attracted a + great deal of attention at the first New York show. He weighs + twenty-two pounds and is three feet long, with a girth of + twenty-four inches; and he has attained some degree of + prominence in her writings. + </p> + <p> + A trio of cats that were a centre of attraction at that first + show belonged to Colonel Mann, of <i>Town Topics</i>. They + were jet black, and rejoiced in the names of Taffy, The + Laird, and Little Billee. They took a first prize, but two of + them have since come to an untimely end. Colonel Mann is a + devoted lover of animals, and has given a standing order that + none of his employees shall, if they see a starving kitten on + the street, leave it to suffer and die. Accordingly his + office is a sort of refuge for unfortunate cats, and one may + always see a number of happy-looking creatures there, who + seem to appreciate the kindness which surrounds them. The + office is in a fifth story overlooking Fifth Avenue: and the + cats used to crawl out on the wide window-ledge in + summer-time and enjoy the air and the view of Madison Square. + But alas! The Laird and Little Billee came to their deaths by + jumping from their high perch after sparrows and falling to + the pavement below. Now there is a strong wire grating across + the windows, and Taffy, a monstrous, shiny black fellow, is + the leader in the "<i>Town Topics</i> Colony." + </p> + <p> + Dr. H.L. Hammond, of Killingly, Ct., makes a speciality of + the rare Australian cats, and has taken numerous prizes with + them at every cat show in this country, where they are + universally admired. His Columbia is valued at six hundred + dollars, and his Tricksey at five hundred dollars. They are, + indeed, beautiful creatures, though somewhat unique in the + cat world, as we see it. They are very sleek cats, with fur + so short, glossy, and fine that it looks like the finest + satin. Their heads are small and narrow, with noses that seem + pointed when compared with other cats. They are very + intelligent and affectionate little creatures, and make the + loveliest of pets. Dr. and Mrs. Hammond are extremely fond of + their unusual and valuable cat family,—and tell the + most interesting tales of their antics and habits. His + Columbia was an imported cat, and the doctor has reason to + believe that she with her mate are originally from the + Siamese cat imported from Siam to Australia. They are all + very delicate as kittens, the mother rarely having more than + one at a time. With two exceptions, these cats have never had + more than two kittens at a litter. They are very partial to + heat, but cannot stand cold weather. They have spells of + sleeping when nothing has power to disturb them, but when + they do wake up they have a "high time," running and playing. + They are affectionate, being very fond of their owner, but + rather shy with strangers. They are uncommonly intelligent, + too, and are very teachable when young. They are such + beautiful creatures, besides being rare in this part of the + world, that it is altogether probable that they will be much + sought after as pets. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH9"><!-- CH9 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CATS IN POETRY + </center> + <p> + As far back as the ninth century, a poem on a cat was + written, which has come down to us from the Arabic. Its + author was Ibn Alalaf Alnaharwany, of Bagdad, who died in 318 + A.H. or A.D. 930. He was one of the better known poets of the + khalifate, and his work may still be found in the original. + The following verses, which were translated by Dr. Carlyle, + are confessedly a paraphrase rather than a strict + translation; but, of course, the sense is the same. + Commentators differ on the question as to whether the poet + really meant anything more in this poem than to sing of the + death of a pet, and some have tried to ascribe to it a hidden + meaning which implies beautiful slaves, lovers, and + assignations; just as the wise Browning student discovers + meanings in that great poet's works of which he never + dreamed. Nevertheless, we who love cats are fain to believe + that this follower of Mahomet meant only to celebrate the + merits—perhaps it would hardly do to call them + virtues—of his beloved cat. + </p> + <p> + The lines are inscribed,— + </p> + <h3> + ON A CAT + </h3> + <center> + THAT WAS KILLED AS SHE WAS ATTEMPTING TO ROB A DOVE-HOUSE<br> + BY IBN ALALAF ALNAHARWANY + </center> + <pre> + Poor Puss is gone!—'tis Fate's decree— + Yet I must still her loss deplore; + For dearer than a child was she, + And ne'er shall I behold her more! + + With many a sad, presaging tear, + This morn I saw her steal away, + While she went on without a fear, + Except that she should miss her prey. + + I saw her to the dove-house climb, + With cautious feet and slow she stept, + Resolved to balance loss of time + By eating faster than she crept. + + Her subtle foes were on the watch, + And marked her course, with fury fraught; + And while she hoped the birds to catch, + An arrow's point the huntress caught. + + In fancy she had got them all, + And drunk their blood and sucked their breath; + Alas! she only got a fall, + And only drank the draught of death. + + Why, why was pigeon's flesh so nice, + That thoughtless cats should love it thus? + Hadst thou but lived on rats and mice, + Thou hadst been living still, poor Puss! + + Cursed be the taste, howe'er refined, + That prompts us for such joys to wish; + And cursed the dainty where we find + Destruction lurking in the dish. +</pre> + <p> + Among the poets, Pussy has always found plenty of friends. + Her feline grace and softness has inspired some of the + greatest, and, from Tasso and Petrarch down, her quiet and + dignified demeanor have been celebrated in verse. Mr. + Swinburne, within a few years, has written a charming poem + which was published in the <i>Athenaeum</i>, and which places + the writer among the select inner circle of true cat-lovers. + He calls his verses— + </p> + <h3> + TO A CAT + </h3> + <pre> + Stately, kindly, lordly friend, + Condescend + Here to sit by me, and turn + Glorious eyes that smile and burn, + Golden eyes, love's lustrous meed, + On the golden page I read. + + * * * * * + + Dogs may fawn on all and some + As they come: + You a friend of loftier mind, + Answer friends alone in kind. + Just your foot upon my hand + Softly bids it understand. +</pre> + <p> + Thomas Gray's poem on the death of Robert Walpole's cat, + which was drowned in a bowl of goldfish, was greatly prized + by the latter; after the death of the poet the bowl was + placed on a pedestal at Strawberry Hill, with a few lines + from the poem as an inscription. In a letter dated March 1, + 1747, accompanying it, Mr. Gray says:— + </p> + <p> + "As one ought to be particularly careful to avoid blunders in + a compliment of condolence, it would be a sensible + satisfaction to me (before I testify my sorrow and the + sincere part I take in your misfortune) to know for certain + who it is I lament. [Note the 'Who.'] I knew Zara and Selima + (Selima was it, or Fatima?), or rather I knew them both + together, for I cannot justly say which was which. Then, as + to your handsome cat, the name you distinguish her by, I am + no less at a loss, as well knowing one's handsome cat is + always the cat one likes best; or if one be alive and the + other dead, it is usually the latter that is the handsomest. + Besides, if the point were never so clear, I hope you do not + think me so ill bred or so imprudent as to forfeit all my + interest in the survivor. Oh, no; I would rather seem to + mistake and imagine, to be sure, it must be the tabby one + that had met with this sad accident. Till this affair is a + little better determined, you will excuse me if I do not cry, + 'Tempus inane peto, requiem, spatiumque doloris.'" + </p> + <p> + He closes the letter by saying, "There's a poem for you; it + is rather too long for an epitaph." And then the + familiar— + </p> + <pre> + "'Twas on a lofty vase's side, + Where China's gayest art had dy'd + The azure flowers that blow: + Demurest of the tabby kind, + The pensive Selima, reclined, + Gazed on the lake below." +</pre> + <p> + Wordsworth's "Kitten and the Falling Leaves," is in the high, + moralizing style. + </p> + <pre> + "That way look, my Infant, lo! + What a pretty baby show. + See the kitten on the wall, + Sporting with the leaves that fall, + + * * * * * + + "But the kitten, how she starts, + Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts + First at one and then its fellow, + Just as light and just as yellow: + There are many now—now one, + Now they stop, and there are none. + What intentness of desire + In her upward eye of fire! + With a tiger-leap halfway + Now she meets the coming prey, + Lets it go as fast, and then + Has it in her power again: + Now she works with three or four. + Like an Indian conjuror: + Quick as he in feats of art, + Far beyond in joy of heart. + Were her antics played in the eye + Of a thousand standers-by, + Clapping hands with shout and stare, + What would little Tabby care + For the plaudits of the crowd? + Over happy to be proud, + Over wealthy in the treasure + Of her own exceeding pleasure. + + * * * * * + + "Pleased by any random toy: + By a kitten's busy joy, + Or an infant's laughing eye + Sharing in the ecstacy: + I would fain like that or this + Find my wisdom in my bliss: + Keep the sprightly soul awake, + And have faculties to take, + Even from things by sorrow wrought, + Matter for a jocund thought, + Spite of care and spite of grief, + To gambol with life's falling leaf." +</pre> + <p> + Cowper's love for animals was well known. At one time, + according to Lady Hesketh, he had besides two dogs, two + goldfinches, and two canaries, five rabbits, three hares, two + guinea-pigs, a squirrel, a magpie, a jay, and a starling. In + addition he had, at least, one cat, for Lady Hesketh says, + "One evening the cat giving one of the hares a sound box on + the ear, the hare ran after her, and having caught her, + punished her by drumming on her back with her two feet hard + as drumsticks, till the creature would actually have been + killed had not Mrs. Unwin rescued her." It might have been + this very cat that was the inspiration of Cowper's poem, "To + a Retired Cat," which had as a moral the familiar + stanza:— + </p> + <pre> + "Beware of too sublime a sense + Of your own worth and consequence: + The man who dreams himself so great + And his importance of such weight, + That all around, in all that's done, + Must move and act for him alone, + Will learn in school of tribulation + The folly of his expectation." +</pre> + <p> + Baudelaire wrote:— + </p> + <pre> + "Come, beauty, rest upon my loving heart, + But cease thy paws' sharp-nailed play, + And let me peer into those eyes that dart + Mixed agate and metallic ray." + + * * * * * + + "Grave scholars and mad lovers all admire + And love, and each alike, at his full tide + Those suave and puissant cats, the fireside's pride, + Who like the sedentary life and glow of fire." +</pre> + <p> + Goldsmith also wrote of the kitten:— + </p> + <pre> + "Around in sympathetic mirth + Its tricks the kitten tries: + The cricket chirrups in the hearth, + The crackling fagot flies." +</pre> + <p> + Does this not suggest a charming glimpse of the poet's + English home? + </p> + <p> + Keats was evidently not acquainted with the best and sleekest + pet cat, and his "Sonnet to a Cat" does not indicate that he + fully appreciated their higher qualities. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Whittier, our good Quaker poet, while not attempting an + elaborate sonnet or stilted elegiac, shows a most + appreciative spirit in the lines he wrote for a little girl + who asked him one day, with tears in her eyes, to write an + epitaph for her lost Bathsheba. + </p> + <pre> + "Bathsheba: To whom none ever said scat, + No worthier cat + Ever sat on a mat + Or caught a rat: +<i>Requies-cat</i>." +</pre> + <p> + Clinton Scollard, however, has given us an epitaph that many + sympathizing admirers would gladly inscribe on the tombstones + of their lost pets, if it were only the popular fashion to + put tombstones over their graves. This is Mr. Scollard's + tribute, the best ever written:— + </p> + <h3> + GRIMALKIN + </h3> + <center> + AN ELEGY ON PETER, AGED TWELVE + </center> + <pre> + In vain the kindly call: in vain + The plate for which thou once wast fain + At morn and noon and daylight's wane, + O King of mousers. + No more I hear thee purr and purr + As in the frolic days that were, + When thou didst rub thy velvet fur + Against my trousers. + + How empty are the places where + Thou erst wert frankly debonair, + Nor dreamed a dream of feline care, + A capering kitten. + The sunny haunts where, grown a cat, + You pondered this, considered that, + The cushioned chair, the rug, the mat, + By firelight smitten. + + Although of few thou stoodst in dread, + How well thou knew a friendly tread, + And what upon thy back and head + The stroking hand meant. + A passing scent could keenly wake + Thy eagerness for chop or steak, + Yet, Puss, how rarely didst thou break + The eighth commandment. + + Though brief thy life, a little span + Of days compared with that of man, + The time allotted to thee ran + In smoother metre. + Now with the warm earth o'er thy breast, + O wisest of thy kind and best, + Forever mayst thou softly rest, +<i>In pace</i>, Peter. +</pre> + <p> + One only has to read this poem to feel that Mr. Scollard knew + what it is to love a gentle, intelligent, affectionate + cat—made so by kind treatment. + </p> + <p> + To François Coppée the cat is as sacred as it + was to the Egyptians of old. The society of his feline pets + is to him ever delightful and consoling, and it may have + inspired him to write some of his most melodious verses. + Nevertheless he is not the cat's poet. It was Charles Cros + who wrote:— + </p> + <pre> + "Chatte blanche, chatte sans tache, + Je te demande dans ces vers + Quel secret dort dans tes yeux verts, + Quel sarcasme sous ta moustache?" +</pre> + <p> + Here is a version in verse of the famous "Kilkenny + Cats":— + </p> + <pre> + "O'Flynn, she was an Irishman, as very well was known, + And she lived down in Kilkenny, and she lived there all alone, + With only six great large tom-cats that knowed their ways about; + And everybody else besides she scrupulously shut out." + + "Oh, very fond of cats was she, and whiskey, too, 'tis said, + She didn't feed 'em very much, but she combed 'em well instead: + As may be guessed, these large tom-cats did not get very sleek + Upon a combing once a day and a 'haporth' once a week. + + "Now, on one dreary winter's night O'Flynn she went to bed + With a whiskey bottle under her arm, the whiskey in her head. + The six great large tom-cats they all sat in a dismal row, + And horridly glared their hazy eyes, their tails wagged to and fro. + + "At last one grim graymalkin spoke, in accents dire to tell, + And dreadful were the words which in his horrid whisper fell: + And all the six large tom-cats in answer loud did squall, + 'Let's kill her, and let's eat her, body, bones, and all.' + + "Oh, horrible! Oh, terrible! Oh, deadly tale to tell! + When the sun shone through the window-hole all seemed still and well: + The cats they sat and licked their paws all in a merry ring. + But nothing else in all the house looked like a living thing. + + "Anon they quarrelled savagely—they spit, they swore, they hollered: + At last these six great large tom-cats they one another swallered: + And naught but one long tail was left in that once peaceful dwelling, + And a very tough one, too, it was—it's the same that I've been telling." +</pre> + <p> + By far more artistic is the version for which I am indebted + to Miss Katharine Eleanor Conway, herself a poet of high + order and a lover of cats. + </p> + <h3> + THE KILKENNY CATS + </h3> + <pre> + There wanst was two cats in Kilkenny, + Aitch thought there was one cat too many; + So they quarrelled and fit, + They scratched and they bit, + Till, excepting their nails, + And the tips of their tails, + Instead of two cats, there wasn't any. +</pre> + <p> + This version comes from Ireland, and is doubtless the correct + original. + </p> + <p> + "Note," says Miss Conway, "the more than Greek delicacy with + which the tragedy is told. No mutilation, no gore; just an + effacement—prompt and absolute—'there wasn't + any.' It would be hard to overpraise that fine touch." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH10"><!-- CH10 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CAT ARTISTS + </center> + <p> + While thousands of artists, first and last, have undertaken + to paint cats, there are but few who have been able to do + them justice. Artists who have possessed the technical skill + requisite to such delicate work have rarely been willing to + give to what they have regarded as unimportant subjects the + necessary study; and those who have been willing to study + cats seriously have possessed but seldom the skill requisite + to paint them well. + </p> + <p> + Thomas Janvier, whose judgment on such matters is + unquestioned, declares that not a dozen have succeeded in + painting thoroughly good cat portraits, portraits so true to + nature as to satisfy—if they could express their + feelings in the premises—the cat subjects and their cat + friends. Only four painters, he says, ever painted cats + habitually and always well. + </p> + <p> + Two members of this small but highly distinguished company + flourished about a century ago in widely separated parts of + the world, and without either of them knowing that the other + existed. + </p> + <p> + One was a Japanese artist, named Ho-Kou-Say, whose method of + painting, of course, was quite unlike that to which we are + accustomed in this western part of the world, but who had a + wonderful faculty for making his queer little cat figures + seem intensely alive. + </p> + <p> + The other was a Swiss artist, named Gottfried Mind, whose cat + pictures are so perfect in their way that he came to be + honorably known as "the Cat Raphael." + </p> + <p> + The other two members of the cat quartet are the French + artist, Monsieur Louis Eugene Lambert, whose pictures are + almost as well known in this country as they are in France; + and the Dutch artist, Madame Henriette Ronner, whose + delightful cat pictures are known even better, as she catches + the softer and sweeter graces of the cat more truly than + Lambert. + </p> + <p> + A thoroughly good picture of a cat is hard to paint, from a + technical standpoint, because the artist must represent not + only the soft surface of fur, but the underlying hard lines + of muscle: and his studies must be made under conditions of + cat perversity which are at times quite enough to drive him + wild. If he is to represent the cat in repose, he must wait + for her to take that position of her own accord; and then, + just as his sketch is well under way, she is liable to rise, + stretch herself, and walk off. If his picture is to represent + action, he must wait for the cat to do what he wants her to + do, and that many times before he can be quite sure that his + drawing is correct. With these severe limitations upon cat + painting, it is not surprising that very few good pictures of + cats have been painted. + </p> + <p> + Gottfried Mind has left innumerable pen sketches to prove his + intimate knowledge of the beauty and charm of the cat. He was + born at Berne in 1768. He had a special taste for drawing + animals even when very young, bears and cats being his + favorite subjects. As he grew older he obtained a wonderful + proficiency, and his cat pictures appeared with every variety + of expression. Their silky coats, their graceful attitudes, + their firm shape beneath the undulating fur, were treated so + as to make Mind's cats seem alive. + </p> + <p> + It was Madame Lebrun who named him the "Raphael of Cats," and + many a royal personage bought his pictures. He, like most cat + painters, kept his cats constantly with him, knowing that + only by persistent and never tiring study could he ever hope + to master their infinite variety. His favorite mother cat + kept closely at his side when he worked, or perhaps in his + lap; while her kittens ran over him as fearlessly as they + played with their mother's tail. When a terrible epidemic + broke out among the cats of Berne in 1809, he hid his Minette + safely from the police, but he never quite recovered from the + horror of the massacre of the eight hundred that had to be + sacrificed for the general safety of the people. He died in + 1814, and in poverty, although a few years afterward his + pictures brought extravagant prices. + </p> + <p> + Burbank, the English painter, has done some good things in + cat pictures. The expression of the face and the peculiar + light in the cat's eye made up the realism of Burbank's + pictures, which were reproductions of sleek and handsome + drawing-room pets, whose shining coats he brings out with + remarkable precision. + </p> + <p> + The ill-fated Swiss artist Cornelius Wisscher's marvellous + tom-cat has become typical. + </p> + <p> + Delacroix, the painter of tigers, was a man of highly nervous + temperament, but his cat sketches bring out too strongly the + tigerish element to be altogether successful. + </p> + <p> + Louis Eugene Lambert was a pupil of Delacroix. He was born in + Paris, September 25, 1825, and the chief event of his youth + was, perhaps, the great friendship which existed between him + and Maurice Sands. Entomology was a fad with him for a time, + but he finally took up his serious life-work in 1854, when he + began illustrating for the <i>Journal of Agriculture</i>. In + connection with his work, he began to study animals + carefully, making dogs his specialty. In 1862 he illustrated + an edition of La Fontaine, and in 1865 he obtained his first + medal for a painting of dogs. In 1866 his painting of cats, + "L'Horloge qui avance," won another medal, and brought his + first fame as a cat painter. In 1874 he was made a Chevalier + of the Legion of Honor. His "Envoi" in 1874, "Les Chats du + Cardinal," and "Grandeur Decline" brought more medals. + Although he has painted hosts of excellent dog pictures, cats + are his favorites, on account, as he says, of "les formes + fines et gracieux; mouvements, souple et subtil." + </p> + <p> + In the Luxembourg Gallery, Mr. Lambert's "Family of Cats" is + considered one of the finest cat pictures in the world. In + this painting the mother sits upon a table watching the + antics of her four frivolous kittens. There is a wonderful + smoothness of touch and refinement of treatment that have + never yet been excelled. "After the Banquet" is another + excellent example of the same smoothness of execution, with + fulness of action instead of repose. And yet there is an + undeniable lack of the softer attributes which should be + evident in the faces of the group. + </p> + <p> + It is here that Madame Ronner excels all other cat painters, + living or dead. She not only infuses a wonderful degree of + life into her little figures, but reproduces the shades of + expression, shifting and variable as the sands of the sea, as + no other artist of the brush has done. Asleep or awake, her + cats look exactly to the "felinarian" like cats with whom he + or she is familiar. Curiosity, drowsiness, indifference, + alertness, love, hate, anxiety, temper, innocence, cunning, + fear, confidence, mischief, earnestness, dignity, + helplessness,—they are all in Madame Ronner's cats' + faces, just as we see them in our own cats. + </p> + <p> + Madame Ronner is the daughter of Josephus Augustus Knip, a + landscape painter of some celebrity sixty years ago, and from + her father she received her first art education. She is now + over seventy years old, and for nearly fifty years has made + her home in Brussels. There, she and her happy cats, a big + black Newfoundland dog named Priam, with a pert cockatoo + named Coco, dwell together in a roomy house in its own + grounds, back a little from the Charleroi Road. Madame Ronner + has a good son to care for her, and she loves the animals, + who are both her servants and her friends. Every day she + spends three good hours of the morning in her studio, + painting her delightful cat pictures with the energy of a + young artist and the expert precision which we know so well. + She was sixteen when she succeeded in painting a picture + which was accepted and sold at a public exhibition at + Dusseldorf. This was a study of a cat seated in a window and + examining with great curiosity a bumblebee; while it would + not compare with her later work, there must have been good + quality in it, or it would not have got into a Dusseldorf + picture exhibition at all. At any rate, it was the beginning + of her successful career as an artist. From that time she + managed to support herself and her father by painting + pictures of animals. For many years, however, she confined + herself to painting dogs. Her most famous picture, "The + Friend of Man," belongs to this period—a pathetic group + composed of a sorrowing old sand-seller looking down upon a + dying dog still harnessed to the little sand-wagon, with the + two other dogs standing by with wistful looks of sympathy. + When this picture was exhibited, in 1860, Madame Ronner's + fame was established permanently. + </p> + <p> + But it so happened that in the same year a friendly kitten + came to live in her home, wandering in through the open + doorway from no one knew where, and deciding, after sniffing + about the place in cat fashion, to remain there for the + remainder of its days. And it also happened that Madame + Ronner was lured by this small stranger, who so coolly + quartered himself upon her, to change the whole current of + her artistic life, and to paint cats instead of dogs. Of + course, this change could not be made in a moment; but after + that the pictures which she painted to please herself were + cat pictures, and as these were exhibited and her reputation + as a cat painter became established, cat orders took the + place of dog orders more and more, until at last her time was + given wholly to cat painting. Her success in painting cat + action has been due as much to her tireless patience as to + her skill; a patience that gave her strength to spend hours + upon hours in carefully watching the quick movements of the + lithe little creatures, and in correcting again and again her + rapidly made sketches. + </p> + <p> + Every cat-lover knows that a cat cannot be induced, either by + reason or by affection, to act in accordance with any wishes + save its own. Also that cats find malicious amusement in + doing what they know they are not wanted to do, and that with + an affectation of innocence that materially aggravates their + deliberate offence. + </p> + <p> + But Madame Ronner, through her long experience, has evolved a + way to get them to pose as models. Her plan is the simple one + of keeping her models prisoners in a glass box, enclosed in a + wire cage, while she is painting them. Inside the prison she + cannot always command their actions, but her knowledge of cat + character enables her to a certain extent to persuade them to + take the pose which she requires. By placing a comfortable + cushion in the cage she can tempt her model to lie down; some + object of great interest, like a live mouse, for instance, + exhibited just outside the cage is sure to create the eager + look that she has shown so well on cat faces; and to induce + her kittens to indulge in the leaps and bounds which she has + succeeded so wonderfully in transferring to canvas, she keeps + hanging from the top of the cage a most seductive "bob." + </p> + <p> + Madame Ronner's favorite models are "Jem" and "Monmouth," + cats of rare sweetness of temper, whose conduct in all + relations of life is above reproach. The name of "Monmouth," + as many will recall, was made famous by the hero of Monsieur + La Bedolierre's classic, "Mother Michel and her Cat," + [Footnote: Translated into English by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.] + and therefore has clustering about it traditions so glorious + that its wearers in modern times must be upheld always by + lofty hopes and high resolves. Doubtless Monmouth Ronner + feels the responsibility entailed upon him by his name. + </p> + <p> + In the European galleries are several noted paintings in + which the cat appears more or less unsuccessfully. Breughel + and Teniers made their grotesque "Cat Concerts" famous, but + one can scarcely see why, since the drawing is poor and there + is no real insight into cat character evident. The sleeping + cat, in Breughel's "Paradise Lost" in the Louvre, is better, + being well drawn, but so small as to leave no chance for + expression. Lebrun's "Sleep of the Infant Jesus," in the + Louvre, has a slumbering cat under the stove, and in + Barocci's "La Madonna del Gatto" the cat is the centre of + interest. Holman Hunt's "The Awakening Conscience" and + Murillo's Holy Family "del Pajarito" give the cat as a type + of cruelty, but have failed egregiously in accuracy of form + or expression. Paul Veronese's cat in "The Marriage at Cana" + is fearfully and wonderfully made, and even Rembrandt failed + when he tried to introduce a cat into his pictures. + </p> + <p> + Rosa Bonheur has been wise enough not to attempt cat + pictures, knowing that special study, for which she had not + the time or the inclination, is necessary to fit an artist to + excel with the feline character. Landseer, too, after trying + twice, once in 1819 with "The Cat Disturbed" and once in 1824 + with "The Cat's Paw," gave up all attempts at dealing with + Grimalkin. Indeed, most artists who have attempted it, have + found that to be a wholly successful cat artist such + whole-hearted devotion to the subject as Madame Ronner's is + the invariable price of distinction. + </p> + <p> + Of late, however, more artists are found who are willing to + pay this price, who are giving time and study not only to the + subtle shadings of the delicate fur, but to the varying + facial expression and sinuous movements of the cat. Margaret + Stocks, of Munich, for example, is rapidly coming to the + front as a cat painter, and some predict for her (she is + still a young woman) a future equal to Madame Ronner's. + Gambier Bolton's "Day Dreams" shows admirably the quality and + "tumbled-ness" of an Angora kitten's fur, while the + expression and drawing are equally good. Miss Cecilia Beaux's + "Brighton Cats" is famous, and every student of cats + recognizes its truthfulness at once. + </p> + <p> + Angora and Persian kittens find another loving and faithful + student in J. Adam, whose paintings have been photographed + and reproduced in this country times without number. "Puss in + Boots" is another foreign picture which has been photographed + and sold extensively in this country. "Little Milksop" by the + same artist, Mr. Frank Paton, gives fairly faithful drawing + and expression of two kittens who have broken a milk pitcher + and are eagerly lapping up the contents. + </p> + <p> + In the Munich Gallery there is a painting by Claus Meyer, + "Bose Zungen," which has become quite noted. His three old + cats and three young cats show three gossiping old crones by + the side of whom are three small and awkward kittens. + </p> + <p> + Of course, there are no artists whose painting of the cat is + to be compared with Madame Ronner's. Mr. J.L. Dolph, of New + York City, has painted hundreds of cat pieces which have + found a ready sale, and Mr. Sid L. Brackett, of Boston, is + doing very creditable work. A successful cat painter of the + younger school is Mr. N.N. Bickford, of New York, whose + "Peek-a-Boo" hangs in a Chicago gallery side by side with + cats of Madame Ronner and Monsieur Lambert. "Miss Kitty's + Birthday" shows that he has genuine understanding of cat + character, and is mastering the subtleties of long white fur. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Bickford is a pupil of Jules Lefèbvre Boulanger + and Miralles. It was by chance that he became a painter of + cats. Mademoiselle Marie Engle, the prima-donna, owned a + beautiful white Angora cat which she prized very highly, and + as her engagements abroad compelled her to part with the cat + for a short time, she left Mizzi with the artist until her + return. One day Mr. Bickford thought he would try painting + the white, silken fur of Mizzi: the result not only surprised + him but also his artist friends, who said, "Lambert himself + could not have done better." + </p> + <p> + Upon Miss Engle's return, seeing what an inspiration her cat + had been, she gave her to Mr. Bickford, and it is needless to + add that he has become deeply attached to his beautiful + model. Mizzi is a pure white Angora, with beautiful blue + eyes, and silky fur. She won first prize at the National Cat + Show of 1895, but no longer attends cat shows, on account of + her engagements as professional model. + </p> + <p> + Ben Austrian, who has made a success in painting other + animals, has done a cat picture of considerable merit. The + subject was Tix, a beautiful tiger-gray, belonging to Mr. + Mahlon W. Newton, of Philadelphia. The cat is noted, not only + in Philadelphia, but among travelling men, as he resides at a + hotel, and is quite a prominent member of the office force. + He weighs fifteen pounds and is of a very affectionate + nature, following his master to the park and about the + establishment like a dog. During the day he lives in the + office, lying on the counter or the key-rack, but at night he + retires with his master at eleven or twelve o'clock, sleeping + in his own basket in the bathroom, and waking his master + promptly at seven every morning. Tix's picture hangs in the + office of his hotel, and is becoming as famous as the cat. + </p> + <p> + Elizabeth Bonsall is a young American artist who has + exhibited some good cat pictures, and whose work promises to + make her famous some day, if she does not "weary in + well-doing"; and Mr. Jean Paul Selinger's "Kittens" are quite + well known. + </p> + <p> + The good cat illustrator is even more rare than the cat + painters. Thousands of readers recall those wonderfully + lifelike cats and kittens which were a feature of the <i>St. + Nicholas</i> a few years ago, accompanied by "nonsense + rhymes" or "jingles." They were the work of Joseph G. + Francis, of Brookline, Mass., and brought him no little fame. + He was, and is still, a broker on State Street, Boston, and + in his busy life these inimitable cat sketches were but an + incident. Mr. Francis is a devoted admirer of all cats, and + had for many years loved and studied one cat in particular. + It was by accident that he discovered his own possibilities + in the line of cat drawing, as he began making little + pen-and-ink sketches for his own amusement and then for that + of his friends. The latter persuaded him to send some of + these drawings to the <i>St. Nicholas</i> and the + <i>Wide-Awake</i> magazines, and, rather to his surprise, + they were promptly accepted, and the "Francis cats" became + famous. Mr. Francis does but little artistic work, nowadays, + more important business keeping him well occupied; besides, + he says, he "is not in the mood for it." + </p> + <p> + Who does not know Louis Wain's cats?—that prince of + English illustrators. Mr. Wain's home, when not in London, is + at Bendigo Lodge, Westgate, Kent. He began his artistic + career at nineteen, after a training in the best London + schools. He was not a hard worker over his books, but his + fondness for nature led him to an artist's career. American + Indian stories were his delight, and accounts of the + wandering outdoor life of our aborigines were instrumental in + developing his powers of observation regarding the details of + nature. Always fond of dumb animals, he began life by making + sketches for sporting papers at agricultural shows all over + England. It was his own cat "Peter" who first suggested to + Louis Wain the fanciful cat creations which have made his + name famous. Watching Peter's antics one evening, he was + tempted to do a small study of kittens, which was promptly + accepted by a magazine editor in London. Then he trained + Peter to become a model and the starting-point of his + success. Peter has done more to wipe out of England the + contempt in which the cat was formerly held there, than any + other feline in the world. He has done his race a service in + raising their status from neglected, forlorn creatures on the + one hand, or the pampered, overfed object of old maids' + affections on the other, to a dignified place in the English + house. + </p> + <p> + The double-page picture of the "Cat's Christmas Dance" in the + <i>London Illustrated News</i> of December 6, 1890, contains + a hundred and fifty cats, with as many varying facial + expressions and attitudes. It occupied eleven working days of + Mr. Wain's time, but it caught the public fancy and made a + tremendous hit all over the world. Louis Wain's cats + immediately became famous, and he has had more orders than he + can fill ever since. He works eight hours a day, and then + lays aside his brush to study physical science, or write a + humorous story. He has written and illustrated a comic book, + and spent a great deal of time over a more serious one. + </p> + <p> + Among the best known of his cat pictures, after the + "Christmas Party," is his "Cats' Rights Meeting," which not + even the most ardent suffragist can study without laughter. + From a desk an ardent tabby is expounding, loud and long, on + the rights of her kind. In front of her is a double row of + felines, sitting with folded arms, and listening with + absorbed attention. The expressions of these cats' faces, + some ardent, some indignant, some placid, but all interested, + form a ridiculous contrast to a row of "Toms" in the rear, + who evidently disagree with the lecturer, and are prepared to + hiss at her more "advanced" ideas. "Returning Thanks" is + nearly as amusing, with its thirteen cats seated at table + over their wine, while one offers thanks, and the remainder + wear varying expressions of devotion, indifference, or + irreverence. "Bringing Home the Yule Log" gives twenty-one + cats, and as many individual expressions of joy or + discomfort; and the "Snowball Match" shows a scene almost as + hilarious as the "Christmas Dance." + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wain believes there is a great future for black and white + work if a man is careful to keep abreast of the times. "A man + should first of all create his public and draw upon his own + fund of originality to sustain it," he says, "taking care not + to pander to the degenerate tendencies which would prevent + his work from elevating the finer instincts of the people." + Says a recent visitor to the Wain household: "I wonder if + Peter realizes that he has done more good than most human + beings, who are endowed not only with sense but with brains? + if in the firelight, he sees the faces of many a suffering + child whose hours of pain have been shortened by the recital + of his tricks, and the pictures of himself arrayed in white + cravat, or gayly disporting himself on a 'see-saw'? I feel + inclined to wake him up, and whisper how, one cold winter's + night, I met a party of five little children, hatless and + bootless, hurrying along an East-end slum, and saying + encouragingly to the youngest, who was crying with cold and + hunger, 'Come along: we'll get there soon.' I followed them + down the lighted street till they paused in front of a + barber's shop, and I heard their voices change to a shout of + merriment: for in the window was a crumpled Christmas + supplement, and Peter, in a frolicsome mood, was represented + entertaining at a large cats' tea-party. Hunger, and cold, + and misery were all dispelled. Who would not be a cat of + Louis Wain's, capable of creating ten minutes' sunshine in a + childish heart?" + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wain announces a discovery in relation to cats which + corroborates a theory of my own, adopted from long + observation and experience. + </p> + <p> + "I have found," he says, "as a result of many years of + inquiry and study, that people who keep cats and are in the + habit of petting them, do not suffer from those petty + ailments which all flesh is heir to. Rheumatism and nervous + complaints are uncommon with them, and Pussy's lovers are of + the sweetest temperament. I have often felt the benefit, + after a long spell of mental effort, of having my cats + sitting across my shoulders, or of half an hour's chat with + Peter." + </p> + <p> + This is a frequent experience of my own. Nothing is more + restful and soothing after a busy day than sitting with my + hands buried in the soft sides of one of my cats. + </p> + <p> + "Do you know," said one of my neighbors, recently, "when I am + troubled with insomnia, lately, I get up and get Bingo from + his bed, and take him to mine. I can go to sleep with my + hands on him." + </p> + <p> + There is a powerful magnetic influence which emanates from a + sleepy or even a quiet cat, that many an invalid has + experienced without realizing it. If physicians were to + investigate this feature of the cat's electrical and magnetic + influence, in place of anatomical research after death, or + the horrible practice of vivisection, they might be doing a + real service to humanity. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wain's success as an illustrator brought him great + prominence in the National Cat Club of England, and he has + been for a number of years its president, doing much to raise + the condition and quality of cats and the status of the club. + He has a number of beautiful and high-bred cats at Bendigo + Lodge. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the painting of cats Champfleury said, "The + lines are so delicate, the eyes are distinguished by such + remarkable qualities, the movements are due to such sudden + impulses, that to succeed in the portrayal of such a subject, + one must be feline one's self." And Mr. Spielman gives the + following advice to those who would paint cats:— + </p> + <p> + "You must love them, as Mahomet and Chesterfield loved them: + be as fond of their company as Wolsley and Richelieu, Mazarin + and Colbert, who retained them even during their most + impressive audiences: as Petrarch, and Dr. Johnson, and Canon + Liddon, and Ludovic Halévy, who wrote with them at + their elbow: and Tasso and Gray, who celebrated them in + verse: as sympathetic as Carlyle, whom Mrs. Allingham painted + in the company of his beloved 'Tib' in the garden at Chelsea, + or as Whittington, the hero of our milk-and-water days: think + of El Daher Beybars, who fed all feline comers, or 'La Belle + Stewart,' Duchess of Richmond, who, in the words of the poet, + 'endowed a college' for her little friends: you must be as + approbative of their character, their amenableness to + education, their inconstancy, not to say indifference and + their general lack of principle, as Madame de Custine: and as + appreciative of their daintiness and grace as Alfred de + Musset. Then, and not till then, can you consider yourself + sentimentally equipped for studying the art of cat painting." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH11"><!-- CH11 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CAT HOSPITALS AND REFUGES + </center> + <p> + At comparatively frequent intervals we read of some woman, + historic or modern, who has left an annuity (as the Duchess + of Richmond, "La Belle Stewart") for the care of her pet + cats; now and then a man provides for them in his will, as + Lord Chesterfield, for instance, who left a permanent pension + for his cats and their descendants. But I find only one who + has endowed a home for them and given it sufficient means to + support the strays and waifs who reach its shelter. + </p> + <p> + Early in the eighties, Captain Nathan Appleton, of Boston (a + brother of the poet Longfellow's wife, and of Thomas + Appleton, the celebrated wit), returned from a stay in London + with a new idea, that of founding some sort of a refuge, or + hospital, for sick or stray cats and dogs. He had visited + Battersea, and been deeply impressed with the need of a + shelter for small and friendless domestic animals. + </p> + <p> + At Battersea there is an institution similar to the one the + Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York have + at East 120th Street, where stray animals may be sent and + kept for a few days awaiting the possible appearance of a + claimant or owner; at the end of which time the animals are + placed in the "lethal chamber," where they die instantly and + painlessly by asphyxiation. In Boston, the Society of + Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have no such refuge or + pound, but in place of it keep one or two men whose business + it is to go wherever sent and "mercifully put to death" the + superfluous, maimed, or sick animals that shall be given + them. + </p> + <p> + Captain Appleton's idea, however, was something entirely + different from this. These creatures, he argued, have a right + to their lives and the pursuit of happiness after their own + fashion, and he proposed to help them to enjoy that right. He + appealed to a few sympathetic friends and gave two or three + acres of land from his own estate, near "Nonantum Hill," + where the Apostle Eliot preached to the Indians, and where + his iodine springs are located. He had raised a thousand or + two dollars and planned a structure of some kind to shelter + stray dogs and cats, when the good angel that attends our + household pets guided him to the lawyer who had charge of the + estates of Miss Ellen M. Gifford, of New Haven, Ct. "I think + I can help you," said the lawyer. But he would say nothing + more at that time. A few weeks later, Captain Appleton was + sent for. Miss Gifford had become deeply interested in the + project, and after making more inquiries, gave the proposed + home some twenty-five thousand dollars, adding to this amount + afterward and providing for the institution in her will. It + has already had over one hundred thousand dollars from Miss + Gifford's estates, and it is so well endowed and well managed + that it is self-supporting. + </p> + <p> + The Ellen M. Gifford Sheltering Home for Animals is situated + near the Brookline edge of the Brighton district in Boston. + In fact, the residential portion of aristocratic Brookline is + so fast creeping up to it that the whole six acres of the + institution will doubtless soon be disposed of at a very + handsome profit, while the dogs and cats will retire to a + more remote district to "live on the interest of their + money." + </p> + <p> + The main building is a small but handsome brick affair, + facing on Lake Street. This is the home of the + superintendent, and contains, besides, the offices of the + establishment. Over the office is a tablet with this + inscription, taken from a letter of Miss Gifford's about the + time the home was opened:— + </p> + <p> + "If only the waifs, the strays, the sick, the abused, would + be sure to get entrance to the home, and anybody could feel + at liberty to bring in a starved or ill-treated animal and + have it cared for without pay, my object would be obtained. + March 27, 1884." + </p> + <p> + The superintendent is a lover of animals as well as a good + business manager, and his work is in line with the sentence + just quoted. Any one wanting a cat or a dog, and who can + promise it a good home, may apply there. But Mr. Perkins does + not take the word of a stranger at random. He investigates + their circumstances and character, and never gives away an + animal unless he can be reasonably sure of its going to a + good home. For instance, he once received an application from + one man for six cats. The wholesale element in the order made + him slightly suspicious, and he immediately drove to Boston, + where he found that his would-be customer owned a big granary + overrun with mice. He sent the six cats, and two weeks later + went to see how they were getting on, when he found them + living happily in a big grain-loft, fat and contented as the + most devoted Sultan of Egypt could have asked. None but + street cats and stray dogs, homeless waifs, ill-treated and + half starved, are received at this home. Occasionally, some + family desiring to get rid of the animal they have petted for + months, perhaps years, will send it over to the Sheltering + Home. But if Mr. Perkins can find where it came from he + promptly returns it, for even this place, capable of + comfortably housing a hundred cats and as many dogs, cannot + accommodate all the unfortunates that are picked up in the + streets of Boston. The accommodations, too, while they are + comfortable and even luxurious for the poor creatures that + have hitherto slept on ash-barrels and stone flaggings, are + unfit for household pets that have slept on cushions, soft + rugs, and milady's bed. + </p> + <p> + There is a dog-house and a cat-house, sufficiently far apart + that the occupants of one need not be disturbed by those of + the other. In the dog-house there are rows of pens on each + side of the middle aisle, in which from one to four or five + dogs, according to size, are kept when indoors. These are of + all sorts, colors, dispositions, and sizes, ranging from pugs + to St. Bernards, terriers to mastiffs. There are few purely + bred dogs, although there are many intelligent and really + handsome ones. The dogs are allowed to run in the big yard + that opens out from their house at certain hours of the day; + but the cats' yards are open to them all day and night. All + yards and runs are enclosed with wire netting, and the + cat-house has partitions of the same. All around the sides of + the cat-house are shelves or bunks, which are kept supplied + with clean hay, for their beds. Here one may see cats of + every color and assorted sizes, contentedly curled up in + their nests, while their companions sit blinking in the sun, + or run out in the yards. Cooked meat, crackers and milk, and + dishes of fresh water are kept where they can get at them. + The cats all look plump and well fed, and, indeed, the + ordinary street cat must feel that his lines have fallen in + pleasant places. + </p> + <p> + Not so, however, with pet cats who may be housed there. They + miss the companionship of people, and the household + belongings to which they have been accustomed. Sometimes it + is really pathetic to see one of these cast-off pets climb up + the wire netting and plainly beg the visitor to take him away + from that strange place, and give him such a home as he has + been used to. In the superintendent's house there is usually + a good cat or two of this sort, as he is apt to test a + well-bred cat before giving him away. + </p> + <p> + Somewhat similar, and even older than the Ellen Gifford + Sheltering Home, is the Morris Refuge of Philadelphia. This + institution, whose motto is "The Lord is good to all: and his + tender mercies are over all his works," was first established + in May, 1874, by Miss Elizabeth Morris and other ladies who + took an interest in the protection of suffering animals. It + does not limit its tender mercies to cats and dogs, but cares + for every suffering animal. It differs from the Ellen Gifford + Home chiefly in the fact that, while the latter is a + <i>home</i> for stray cats and dogs, the Morris Refuge has + for its object the care for and disposal of suffering animals + of all sorts. In a word, it brings relief to most of these + unfortunate creatures by means of a swift and painless death. + </p> + <p> + It was first known as the City Refuge, although it was never + maintained by the city. In January, 1889, it was reorganized + and incorporated as the "Morris Refuge for Homeless and + Suffering Animals." It is supported by private contributions, + and is under the supervision of Miss Morris and a corps of + kind-hearted ladies of Philadelphia. A wagon is kept at the + home to respond to calls, and visits any residence where + suffering animals may need attention. The agent of the + society lives at the refuge with his family, and receives + animals at any time. When notice is received of an animal + hurt or suffering, he sends after it. Chloroform is + invariably taken along, in order that, if expedient, the + creature may be put out of its agony at once. This refuge is + at 1242 Lombard Street, and there is a temporary home where + dogs are boarded at 923 South 11th Street. + </p> + <p> + In 1895, out of 23,067 animals coming under the care of the + association, 19,672 were cats. In 1896, there were 24,037 + animals relieved and disposed of, while the superintendent + answered 230 police calls. Good homes are found for both dogs + and cats, but not until the agent is sure that they will be + kindly treated. + </p> + <p> + In Miss Morris's eighth annual report she says: "Looking back + to the formation of the first society for the prevention of + cruelty to animals, we find since that time a gradual + awakening to the duties man owes to those below him in the + scale of animal creation. The titles of those societies and + their objects, as defined by their charters, show that at + first it was considered sufficient to protect animals from + cruel treatment: very few people gave thought to the care of + those that were without homes. Now many are beginning to + think of the evil of being overrun with numbers of homeless + creatures, whose sufferings appeal to the sympathies of the + humane, and whose noise and depredations provoke the cruelty + of the hard-hearted: hence the efforts that are being made in + different cities to establish refuges. A request has lately + been received from Montreal asking for our reports, as it is + proposed to found a home for animals in that city, and + information is being collected in relation to such + institutions." + </p> + <p> + Lady Marcus Beresford has succeeded in establishing and + endowing a home for cats in Englefield Green, Windsor Park. + She has made a specialty of Angoras, and her collection is + famous. Queen Victoria and her daughters take a deep + interest, not alone in finely bred cats, but in poor and + homeless waifs as well. Her Royal Highness, in fact, took + pains to write the London S.P.C.A. some years ago, saying she + would be very glad to have them do something for the safety + and protection of cats, "<i>which are so generally + misunderstood and grossly ill-treated</i>." She herself sets + a good example in this respect, and when her courts remove + from one royal residence to another, her cats are taken with + her. + </p> + <p> + There is a movement in Paris, too, to provide for sick and + homeless cats as well as dogs. Two English ladies have + founded a hospital near Asnières, where ailing pets + can be tended in illness, or boarded for about ten cents a + day; and very well cared for their pensioners are. There is + also a charity ward where pauper patients are received and + tended carefully, and afterward sold or given away to + reliable people. Oddly, this sort of charity was begun by + Mademoiselle Claude Bernard, the daughter of the great + scientist who, it is said, tortured more living creatures to + death than any other. Vivisection became a passion with him, + but Mademoiselle Bernard is atoning for her father's cruelty + by a singular devotion to animals, and none are turned from + her gates. + </p> + <p> + This is the way they do it in Cairo even now, according to + Monsieur Prisse d'Avennes, the distinguished + Egyptologist:— + </p> + <p> + "The Sultan, El Daher Beybars, who reigned in Egypt and Syria + toward 658 of the Hegira (1260 A.D.) and is compared by + William of Tripoli to Nero in wickedness, and to Caesar in + bravery, had a peculiar affection for cats. At his death, he + left a garden, 'Gheyt-el-Quoltah' (the cats' orchard), + situated near his mosque outside Cairo, for the support of + homeless cats. Subsequently the field was sold and resold + several times by the administrator and purchasers. In + consequence of a series of dilapidations it now produces a + nominal rent of fifteen piastres a year, which with certain + other legacies is appropriated to the maintenance of cats. + The Kadi, who is the official administrator of all pious and + charitable bequests, ordains that at the hour of afternoon + prayer, between noon and sunset, a daily distribution of + animals' entrails and refuse meat from the butchers' stalls, + chopped up together, shall be made to the cats of the + neighborhood. This takes place in the outer court of the + 'Mehkemeh,' or tribunal, and a curious spectacle may then be + seen. At this hour all the terraces near the Mehkemeh are + crowded with cats: they come jumping from house to house + across the narrow Cairo streets, hurrying for their share: + they slide down walls and glide into the court, where they + dispute, with great tenacity and much growling, the scanty + meal so sadly out of proportion to the number of guests. The + old ones clear the food in a moment: the young ones and the + newcomers, too timid to fight for their chance, must content + themselves with licking the ground. Those wanting to get rid + of cats take them there and deposit them. I have seen whole + baskets of kittens deposited in the court, greatly to the + annoyance of the neighbors." + </p> + <p> + There are similar customs in Italy and Switzerland. In Geneva + cats prowl about the streets like dogs at Constantinople. The + people charge themselves with their maintenance, and feed the + cats who come to their doors at the same hour every day for + their meals. + </p> + <p> + In Florence, a cloister near St. Lorenzo's Church serves as a + refuge for cats. It is an ancient and curious institution, + but I am unable to find whether it is maintained by the city + or by private charities. There are specimens of all colors, + sizes, and kinds, and any one who wants a cat has but to go + there and ask for it. On the other hand, the owner of a cat + who is unable or unwilling to keep it may take it there, + where it is fed and well treated. + </p> + <p> + In Rome, they have a commendable system of caring for their + cats. At a certain hour butchers' men drive through the city, + with carts well stocked with cat's meat. They utter a + peculiar cry which the cats recognize, and come hurrying out + of the houses for their allowances, which are paid for by the + owners at a certain rate per month. + </p> + <p> + In Boston, during the summer of 1895, a firm of butchers took + subscriptions from philanthropic citizens, and raised enough + to defray the expenses of feeding the cats on the Back + Bay,—where, in spite of the fact that the citizens are + all wealthy and supposedly humane, there are more starving + cats than elsewhere in the city. But the experiment has not + been repeated. + </p> + <p> + Hospitals for sick animals are no new thing, but a really + comfortable home for cats is an enterprise in which many a + woman who now asks despondently what she can do in this + overcrowded world to earn a living, might find pleasant and + profitable. + </p> + <p> + A most worthy charity is that of the Animal Rescue League in + Boston, which was started by Mrs. Anna Harris Smith in 1899. + She put a call in the newspapers, asking those who were + interested in the subject to attend a meeting and form a + league for the protection and care of lost or deserted pets. + The response was immediate and generous. The Animal Rescue + League was formed with several hundred members, and in a + short time the house at 68 Carver Street was rented, and a + man and his wife put in charge. Here are brought both cats + and dogs from all parts of Boston and the suburbs, where they + are sure of kind treatment and care. If they are diseased + they are immediately put out of existence by means of the + lethal chamber; otherwise they are kept for a few days in + order that they may be claimed by their owners if lost, or + have homes found for them whenever it is possible. During the + first year over two thousand cats were cared for, and several + hundred dogs. This home is maintained by voluntary + contributions and by the annual dues of subscribers. These + are one dollar a year for associate members and five dollars + for active members. It is an excellent charity, and one that + may well be emulated in other cities. + </p> + <p> + There are several cat asylums and refuges in the Far West, + and certainly a few more such institutions as the Sheltering + Home at Brighton, Mass., or the Morris Refuge would be a + credit to a country. How better than by applying it to our + cats can we demonstrate the truth of Solomon's maxim, "A + merciful man is merciful to his beast"? + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH12"><!-- CH12 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CATS + </center> + <p> + If any of my readers hunger and thirst for information + concerning the descent of the cat through marsupial ancestors + and mesozoic mammals to the generalized placental or + monodelphous carnivora of to-day, let them consult St. George + Mivart, who gives altogether the most comprehensive and + exhaustive scientific study to the cat ever published, and + whose book on the cat is an excellent work for the earnest + beginner in the study of biological science. He says no more + complete example can be found of a perfectly organized living + being than that supplied by the highest mammalian + family—<i>Felidae</i>. + </p> + <p> + "On the whole," he sums up, "it seems probable that the + mammalia, and therefore the cat, descends from some highly + developed, somewhat reptile-like batrachian of which no trace + has been found." + </p> + <p> + Away back in the eighth century of the Hegira, an Arab + naturalist gives this account of the creation of the cat: + "When, as the Arab relates, Noah made a couple of each animal + to enter the ark, his companions and family asked, 'What + security can you give us and the other animals, so long as + the lion dwells with us on this narrow vessel?' Then Noah + betook himself to prayer, and entreated the Lord God. + Immediately fever came down from heaven and seized upon the + king of beasts." This was the origin of fever. But + constituents in Noah's time, as now, were ungrateful; and no + sooner was the lion disposed of, than the mouse was + discovered to be an object of suspicion. They complained that + there would be no safety for provisions or clothing. "And so + Noah renewed his supplication to the Most High, the lion + sneezed, and a cat ran out of his nostrils. From that time + the mouse has been timid and has hidden in holes." + </p> + <p> + In the Egyptian gallery of the British Museum there is an + excellent painting of a tabby cat assisting a man to capture + birds. Hieroglyphic inscriptions as far back as 1684 B.C. + mention the cat, and there is at Leyden a tablet of the + eighteenth or nineteenth dynasty with a cat seated under a + chair. A temple at Beni-Hassan is dedicated to Pasht or + Bubastis, the goddess of cats, which is as old as Thothmes IV + of the eighteenth dynasty, 1500 B.C.; and the cat appears in + written rituals of that dynasty. Herodotus tells of the + almost superstitious reverence which dwellers along the Nile + felt for the cat, and gravely states that when one died a + natural death in any house, the inmates shaved their eyebrows + as a token of grief; also, that in case of a fire the first + thing they saved was the household cat. Fortunate pussies! + </p> + <p> + It is thought that cats were introduced into Greece from + Egypt, although Professor Rolleston, of Cambridge University, + believes the Grecian pet cat to have been the white-breasted + marten. Yet why should he? Is not a soft, white-breasted + maltese or tabby as attractive? The idea that cats were + domesticated in Western Europe by the Crusaders is thought to + be erroneous; but pet cats were often found in nunneries in + the Middle Ages, and Pope Gregory the Great, toward the end + of the sixth century, had a pet cat of which he was very + fond. + </p> + <p> + An old writer says, "A favorite cat sometimes accompanied the + Egyptians on these occasions [of sport], and the artist of + that day intends to show us by the exactness with which he + represents her seizing her prey, that cats were trained to + hunt and carry water-fowl." There are old Egyptian paintings + representing sporting scenes along the Nile, where the cats + plunge into the water of the marshes to retrieve and carry + game; while plenty of mural paintings show them sitting under + the arm-chair of the mistress of the house. Modern + naturalists, however, claim a radical difference between + those old Egyptian retrieving cats and our water-hating + pussies. There are no records of cats between that period in + Egypt, about 1630 B.C., and 260 B.C., when they seem to have + become acclimated in Greece and Rome. There is in the + Bordeaux Museum an ancient picture of a young girl holding a + cat, on a tomb of the Gallo-Roman Epoch, and cats appeared in + the heraldry of that date; but writers of those ages speak + rather slightingly of them. Then for centuries the cat was + looked upon as a diabolic creature, fit company for witches. + </p> + <p> + "Why," says Balthazar Bekker in the seventeenth century, "is + a cat always found among the belongings of witches, when + according to the Sacred Book, and Apocalypse in particular, + it is the dog, not a feline animal, that consorts with the + sorcerers?" + </p> + <p> + In Russia even yet the common people believe that black cats + become devils at the end of seven years, and in many parts of + Southern Europe they are still supposed to be serving + apprenticeship as witches. In Sicily the peasants are sure + that if a black cat lives with seven masters, the soul of the + seventh will surely accompany him back to the dominion of + Hades. In Brittany there is a dreadful tale of cats that + dance with unholy glee around the crucifix while their King + is being put to death. Cats figure in Norwegian folk-lore, + too, as witches and picturesque incumbents of ghost-haunted + houses and nocturnal revels. And even to-day there is a + legend in Westminster to the effect that the dissipated cats + of that region indulge in a most disreputable revel in some + country house, and that is why they look so forlorn and + altogether undone by daylight. + </p> + <p> + A canon enacted in England in 1127 forbade any abbess or nun + to use more costly fur than that of lambs or cats, and it is + proved that cat-fur was at that time commonly used for + trimming dresses. The cat was, probably for that reason, an + object of chase in royal forests, and a license is still in + existence from Richard II to the Abbot of Peterborough, and + dated 1239, granting liberty to hunt cats. This was probably + the wild cat, however, which was not the same as the + domestic.[1] + </p> + <p> + [Footnote 1: + </p> + <p> + These are among the laws supposedly enacted by Hoel Dha + (Howell the Good) sometime between 915 and 948 A.D. + </p> + <p> + The Vendotian Code XI. + </p> + <p> + The worth of a cat and her teithi (qualities) this is:— + </p> + <p> + 1st. The worth of a kitten from the night it is kittened + until it shall open its eyes, is one penny. + </p> + <p> + 2d. And from that time until it shall kill mice, two pence. + </p> + <p> + 3d. And after it shall kill mice, four legal pence; and so it + shall always remain. + </p> + <p> + 4th. Her teithe are to see, to hear, to kill mice, and to + have her claws. + </p> + <p> + This is the "Dimentian Code." XXXII. Of Cats. + </p> + <p> + 1st. The worth of a cat that is killed or stolen. Its head to + be put downward upon a clean, even floor, with its tail + lifted upward and thus suspended, whilst wheat is poured + about it until the top of its tail be covered and that is to + be its worth. If the corn cannot be had, then a milch sheep + with a lamb and its wool is its value, if it be a cat that + guards the king's barn. + </p> + <p> + 2d. The worth of a common cat is four legal pence. + </p> + <p> + 3d. The teithi of a cat, and of every animal upon the milk of + which people do not feed, is the third part of its worth or + the worth of its litter. + </p> + <p> + 4th. Whosoever shall sell a cat (cath) is to answer that she + devour not her kittens, and that she have ears, teeth, eyes, + and nails, and be a good mouser. + </p> + <p> + The "Gwentian Code" begins in the same way, but says:— + </p> + <p> + 3d. That it be perfect of ear, perfect of eye, perfect of + teeth, perfect of tail, perfect of claw, and without marks of + fire. And if the cat fall short in any of these particulars, + a third of her price had to be refunded. As to the fire, in + case her fur had been singed the rats could detect her by the + odor, and her qualities as a mouser were thus injured. And + then it goes on to say:— + </p> + <p> + 4th. That the teithi and the legal worth of a cat are + coequal. + </p> + <p> + 5th. A pound is the worth of a pet animal of the king. + </p> + <p> + 6th. The pet animal of a breyer (brewer) is six score pence + in value. + </p> + <p> + 7th. The pet animal of a taoog is a curt penny in value. + </p> + <p> + In the 39th chapter, 53d section, we find that "there are + three animals whose tails, eyes, and lives are of the same + value—a calf, a filly for common work, and a cat, + except the cat which shall watch the king's barn," in which + case she was more valuable. + </p> + <p> + Another old Welsh law says: "Three animals reach their worth + in a year: a sheep, a cat, and a cur. This is a complement of + the legal hamlet; nine buildings, one plough, one kiln, one + churn, and one cat, one cock, one bull, and one herdsman." + </p> + <p> + In order that there might be no mistake in regard to the cat, + a rough sketch of Puss is given in the Mss. of the laws.] + </p> + <p> + That cats, even in the Middle Ages, were thought much more + highly of in Great Britain than on the Continent is proved by + the fact that the laws there imposed a heavy fine on + cat-killers, the fine being as much wheat as would serve to + bury the cat when he was held up by the tip of the tail with + his nose on the ground. So that pet cats stood a fairly good + chance in those days. + </p> + <p> + One of the good things remembered of Louis XIII is that he + interceded as Dauphin with Henri IV for the lives of the cats + about to be burned at the festival on St. John's Day. + </p> + <p> + Nowadays, there is a current superstition that a black cat + brings good luck to a house; but in the Middle Ages they + believed that the devil borrowed the form of a black cat when + he wanted to torment or get control of his victims. There are + plenty of old traditions about cats having spoken to human + beings, and been kicked, or struck, or burned by them in + return; and invariably, these tales tell us, those who are so + bespoken meet some one the next day with plain marks of the + injury they had inflicted on the froward cat,—which was + sure evidence of witchery and sorcery. Doubtless full many a + human being has been put to death, in times past, on no + stronger evidence of being a witch. Humanity did not come to + the rescue of the cat and bring her out from the shadow of + ignominy that hung over her in mediaeval times until 1618, + when an interdict was issued in Flanders prohibiting the + festive ceremony of throwing cats from the high tower of + Ypres on Wednesdays of the second week in Lent. And from that + time Pussy's fortunes began to look up. + </p> + <p> + To-day, travellers on the edge of the Pyrenees know a little + old man, Martre Tolosan, who makes and sells replicas of the + original models of cats found among the Roman remains at a + small town near Toulouse. These are made in blue and white + earthenware and each one is numbered. Mine, bought by a + friend in 1895, is marked 5000. They are not exact models of + our cats of to-day, to be sure, but they express all the snug + content and inscrutable calm of our modern pets. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese reproduce cats in their ceramics in white, + turquoise blue, and old violet. One that once belonged to + Madame de Mazarin sold for eight hundred livres. In Japan, + cats are reproduced in common ware, daubed with paint, but + the Chinese make them of finer ware, enamelling the commoner + kinds of porcelain and using the cat in conventional forms as + flower-vases and lamps. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH13"><!-- CH13 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING VARIETIES OF CATS + </center> + <p> + Few people realize how many kinds of cats there are. The + fashionable world begins to discuss cats technically and + understand their various points of excellence. The "lord + mayor's chain," the "Dutch rabbit markings," and similar + features are understood by more cat fanciers than a few years + ago; but, until within that time, it is doubtful if the + number of people who knew the difference between the Angora + and the Persian in this country amounted to a hundred. It is + but a few years since the craze for the Angora cat started. + These cats have been fashionable pets in England for some + years back, and now America begins to understand their value + and the principles of breeding them. Today, there are as + handsome, well-bred animals in the United States as can be + found abroad. The demand for high-bred animals with a + pedigree is greatly increasing, and society people are + beginning to understand the fine points of the thoroughbred. + </p> + <p> + The Angora cat, as its name indicates, comes from Angora in + Western Asia, the province that is celebrated for its goats + with long hair of fine quality. In fact, the hair under the + Angora cat's body often resembles the finest of the Angora + goatskins. Angora cats are favorites with the Turks and + Armenians, and exist in many colors, especially since they + have been more carefully bred. They vary in form, color, and + disposition, and also in the quality of their hair. The + standard calls for a small head, with not too long a nose, + large eyes that should harmonize in color with the fur, + small, pointed ears with a tuft of hair at the apex, and a + very full, fluffy mane around the neck. This mane is known as + the "lord mayor's chain." The body is longer than that of the + ordinary cat in proportion to its size, and is extremely + graceful, and covered with long, silky hair, which is crinkly + like that of the Angora goat. This hair should be as fine as + possible, and not woolly. The legs are of a moderate length, + but look short on account of the length of hair on the body. + Little tufts of hair growing between the toes indicate high + breeding. The Angora cat, in good condition, is one of the + most beautiful and elegant creatures in the world, and few + can resist its charm. The tail is long and like an ostrich + plume. It is usually carried, when the cat is in good + spirits, straight up, with the end waving over toward one + side. The tail of the Angora serves as a barometer of its + bodily and mental condition. If the cat is ill or frightened, + the tail droops, and sometimes trails on the ground; but when + she is in good spirits, playing about the house or grounds, + it waves like a great plume, and is exceedingly handsome. The + suppleness of the Angora's tail is also a mark of fine + breeding. A highbred Angora will allow its tail to be doubled + or twisted without apparent notice of the performance. + </p> + <p> + The Angora does not reach its prime until about two years. + Before that time its head and body are not sufficiently + developed to give the full beauty and grace of the animal. As + a rule, the Angora is of good disposition, although the + females are apt to be exceedingly nervous. They are sociable + and docile, although fond of roaming about, especially if + allowed to run loose. As a rule, they do not possess the keen + intelligence of the ordinary short-haired family cat, but + their great beauty and their cleanly and affectionate habits + make them favorites with fashionable people. The proper + breeding of the Angora cat is a regular science. Of the + colors of the Angoras, the blue or maltese is a favorite, and + rather common, especially when mixed with white. + </p> + <p> + The white Angora is extraordinarily beautiful, and brings a + high price when it has blue eyes and all its points are + equally good. The orange, or yellow, and the black with amber + eyes are also prize winners. There are the tigers also, the + brown tabby, and the orange and white. Mixed colors are more + common than solid ones; the tortoise-shell cat of three + colors and well mottled being considered particularly + desirable. + </p> + <p> + The Persian cat differs from the Angora in the quality of its + fur, although the ordinary observer sees little difference + between them. All the long-haired cats originated from the + Indian Bengalese, Thibetan, and other wild cats of Asia and + Russia. The Persian cat of very great value is all black, + with a very fluffy frill, or lord mayor's chain, and orange + eyes. Next to him comes a light slate or blue Persian, with + yellow eyes. The fur of the Persian cat is much more woolly + than that of the Angora, and sometimes in hot weather mats + badly. The difference between a Persian and an Angora can + usually be told by an amateur, by drawing the tail between + the thumb and first finger. The Angora's tail comes out thin, + silky, and narrow, although it immediately "fluffs" up. The + Persian's tail does not compress itself readily into a small + space. The Persian cat's head is larger, its ears are less + pointed, although it should have the tuft at the end and the + long hair inside. It is usually larger in body and apparently + stronger made, although slender and elegant in appearance, + with small bones and graceful in movement. The colors vary, + as with the Angora, except that the tortoise-shell and the + dark-marked tabby do not so frequently appear. The temper is + usually less reliable and the intelligence less keen than the + Angora. + </p> + <p> + The Russian long-haired pet is much less common even than the + Persian and Angora. It is fond of cold weather, and its fur + is denser, indicating that it has been used to colder + regions. Many of the cats that we see are crosses of Angora + and Persian, or Angora and Russian, so that it is extremely + difficult for the amateur to know a thoroughbred cat which + has not been mixed with other varieties. + </p> + <p> + There is also a fine short-haired cat coming from Russia, + usually self-colored. Mrs. Frederick Monroe, of Chicago, owns + a very handsome blue and white one. + </p> + <p> + In Pegu, Siam, and Burmah, there is a race of cats known as + the Malay cat, with tails only half the ordinary length and + often contorted into a sort of a knot that cannot be + straightened, after the fashion of the pug dog or ordinary + pig. + </p> + <p> + There is another cat known as the Mombas, a native of the + west coast of Africa and covered with stiff, bristling hair. + Paraguay cats are only one-quarter as big as our ordinary + cat, and are found along the western coast of South America, + even as far north as Mexico. + </p> + <p> + The royal cat of Siam is a short-haired cat, yet widely + different from other short-haired varieties. They are + extremely pretty, with blue or amber-colored eyes by day + which grow brilliant at night. These cats also frequently + have the kink in the tail, and sometimes a strong animal + odor, although this is not disagreeable. The head is rather + longer than the ordinary cat's, tapering off sharply toward + the muzzle, the forehead flat and receding, and the eyes more + slanting toward the nose than the American cat's. The form + should be slender, graceful, and delicately made; the body + long; the tail very thin and rather short; the legs short and + slender, and the feet oval. The body is of a bright, uniform + color, and the legs, feet, and tail are usually black. + </p> + <p> + The Manx cat is considered by many people as a natural + curiosity. It differs from the ordinary domestic cat but + little, except in the absence of a tail, or even an apology + for one. The hind legs are thicker and rather longer than the + ordinary cat's, and it runs more like a hare. It is not a + graceful object when seen from behind, but it is an + affectionate, home-loving creature with considerable + intelligence. The Manx cat came from the Isle of Man + originally, and is a distinct breed. So-called Manx cats have + tails from one to a few inches long, but these are crosses of + the Manx and the ordinary cat. In the Crimea is found another + kind of cat which has no tail. The cats known as the + "celebrated orange cats of Venice," are probably descendants + of the old Egyptian cat, and are of varying shades of yellow, + sometimes deepening into a sandy color which is almost red. + There are obscure stripes on the body, which become more + distinct on the limbs. The tail is more or less ringed toward + its termination. + </p> + <p> + There has been a newspaper paragraph floating about stating + that a prize of several thousand dollars had been offered in + England for a male tortoise-shell cat. This is probably not + true, as a Mr. Smith exhibited a tortoise-shell he-cat at the + Crystal Palace Show of 1871. Several tortoise-shell and white + toms have been exhibited since, and one of these has taken + nine first prizes at the Crystal Palace Show; but the + tortoise-shell he-cat is extremely rare. The real + tortoise-shell is not a striped tiger nor a tabby. It has + three colors usually, black, yellow, and red or brown; but + these appear in patches rather than stripes. It is said that + the tortoise-shell cat is common in Egypt and the south of + Europe. It comes from a different stock than the ordinary + short-haired cat, the texture of the hair being different, as + well as the color. The tortoise-shell and white cat is much + more common, and is the product of a cross between a tortoise + shell and a solid color cat. In this case the hair is usually + coarser and the tail thicker than in the ordinary cat. + </p> + <p> + Among cat fanciers there is a distinctive variety known as + the tortoise-shell tabby. As the tabby cat is one of the + varieties of striped or spotted cats having markings, broad + or narrow, of bands of black on a dark tan or gray ground, + the tortoise-shell cat would have both stripes and patches of + color. + </p> + <p> + Of the tabbies, there are brown tabbies, silver tabbies, and + red tabbies. It is said that the red tabby she-cat is as + scarce as the tortoise-shell he-cat. The ordinary observer + considers the brown tabby with white markings as much the + handsomest of the tabbies. But fanciers and judges do not + agree with him, the cats having narrow bands and spots being + the ones to take prizes. The word "tabby," according to + Harrison Weir, was derived from a kind of taffeta or ribbed + silk which used to be called tabby silk. Other authorities + state that tabby cats got their name from Atab, a street in + Bagdad; but as this street was famous for its watered silks + perhaps the same reason holds. The tortoise-shell used to be + called, in England, the Calimanco. In America, it is + sometimes called the calico cat. + </p> + <p> + The red tabby is of a deep reddish or yellow brown, with a + well-ringed tail, orange or yellow eyes, and pink cushions to + the feet. The brown tabby is orange brown, with black lips, + brown whiskers, black feet, black pads, long tail, greenish + orange eyes, and red nose bordered with black. The spotted + tabby must have no bands at all. It must be brown, red, or + yellow, with black spots. In the brown tabby the feet and + pads are black; in the yellow and red, the feet and pads are + pink. The spotted cat sometimes resembles a leopard, while + the banded tabby resembles more the tiger. Some of the + spotted tabbies are extremely handsome, and came originally + from a cross between the ordinary cat and the wild cat. + </p> + <p> + "Self-colored cats" are entirely of one color, which may vary + in different cats, but must never be mixed in the same cat, + nor even shaded into a lighter tone on the animal; and + whether this color be black, blue, red, or yellow, the + self-colored cat should have a rich deep tint. Of course the + short-haired white cat is the handsomest of all. One of the + peculiarities of this white cat is that it is apt to be deaf. + The most valuable white cats, whether long or short haired, + have blue eyes. Sometimes they have one blue eye and one + green or yellow, which gives a comical effect, and detracts + from their value. By the way, cross-eyed cats are not + unknown. The best white cats have a yellowish white tint + instead of grayish white, as the latter have a coarser + quality of fur. + </p> + <p> + The jet-black cat is thought by many to be the most + desirable. The true black cat should have a uniform, + intensely black coat, velvety and extremely glossy; the eyes + should be round and full, and of a brilliant amber; the nose + and pads of the feet should be jet-black, and the tail long + and tapering. It is difficult to find a black cat without a + white hair, as usually there are a few under the chin or on + the belly. + </p> + <p> + The blue cat is the one ordinarily known in this country as + the dark maltese. There is a tradition that it came from the + Island of Malta. Many people do not consider it a distinct + breed, but think it a light-colored variety of the black cat. + It is known sometimes as the Archangel, sometimes as the + Russian blue, the Spanish blue, the Chartreuse blue, but more + commonly in this country as the maltese. When it is of a deep + bluish color, or of the soft silver-gray maltese without + stripes, it is extremely handsome. The most desirable are the + bluish lilac-colored ones, with soft fur like sealskin. The + nose and pads of the feet are dark, and the eyes are orange + yellow. The maltese and white cat when well marked is + extremely handsome, and there is no prettier kitten than the + maltese and white. + </p> + <p> + The black and white, yellow and white, blue and white, and in + fact, any self-colored and white cat is a mixture of the + other breeds. If well marked they are extremely handsome and + are usually bright and intelligent. + </p> + <p> + The solid gray cat is very rare. It is, in fact, a tabby + without the black stripes or spots. + </p> + <p> + In Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea there used to be no + cat of any kind. The Siamese cat has been imported to + Australia, and some authorities claim that the cats known in + this country as Australian cats are of Siamese origin. + Madagascar is a catless region. + </p> + <p> + There is in this country a variety known as the "coon cat," + which is handsome, especially in the solid black. Its native + home is in Maine, and it is thought by many to have + originated with the ordinary cat and the raccoon. It grows + somewhat larger than the ordinary cat, with thick, woolly fur + and an extremely bushy tail. It is fond of outdoor life, and + when kept as a pet must be allowed to run out of doors or it + is apt to become so savage and disagreeable that nothing can + be done with it. When it is allowed its freedom, however, it + becomes affectionate, intelligent, and is usually a handsome + cat. + </p> + <p> + The term "Dutch rabbit markings" refers to the white markings + on the cat of two or three colors. Evidently, the cats + themselves understand the value of Dutch rabbit markings, as + one which has them is invariably proud of them. A cat that + has white mittens, for instance, is often inordinately vain, + and keeps them in the most immaculate state of cleanliness. + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p><a name="CH14"><!-- CH14 --></a> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <center> + CONCERNING CAT LANGUAGE + </center> + <p> + Montaigne it was who said: "We have some intelligence of + their senses: so have also the beasts of ours in much the + same measure. They flatter us, menace us, need us, and we + them. It is manifestly evident that there is among them a + full and entire communication, and that they understand each + other." + </p> + <p> + That this applies to cats is certainly true. Did you ever + notice how a mother cat talks to her children, and simply by + the utterances of her voice induces them to abandon their + play and go with her, sometimes with the greatest reluctance, + to some place that suited her whim—or her wisdom? + </p> + <p> + Dupont de Nemours, a naturalist of the eighteenth century, + made himself ridiculous in the eyes of his compatriots by + seeking to penetrate the mysteries of animal language. "Those + who utter sounds," he affirmed, "attach significance to them; + their fellows do the same, and those sounds originally + inspired by passion and repeated under similar recurrent + circumstances, become the abiding expressions of the passions + that gave rise to them." + </p> + <p> + Fortified by this theory he devoted a couple of years to the + study of crow language, and made himself ridiculous in the + eyes of his adversaries by attempting to translate a + nightingale's song. + </p> + <p> + Chateaubriand was much interested in Dupont de Nemours's + researches into the language of cats. "Its claws," says the + latter, "and the power of climbing trees which its claws give + it, furnish the cat with resources of experience and ideas + denied the dog. The cat, also, has the advantage of a + language which has the same vowels as pronounced by the dog, + and with six consonants in addition, <i>m, n, g, h, v</i>, + and <i>f</i>. Consequently the cat has a greater number of + words. These two causes, the finer structure of its paws, and + the larger scope of oral language, endow the solitary cat + with greater cunning and skill as a hunter than the dog." + </p> + <p> + Abbé Galiani also says: "For centuries cats have been + reared, but I do not find they have ever been really studied. + I have a male and a female cat. I have cut them off from all + communication with cats outside the house, and closely + observe their proceedings. During their courtship they never + once miowed: the miow, therefore, is not the language of + love, but rather the call of the absent. Another positive + discovery I have made is that the voice of the male is + entirely different from that of the female, as it should be. + I am sure there are more than twenty different inflections in + the language of cats, and there is really a 'tongue' for they + always employ the same sound to express the same thing." + </p> + <p> + I heartily concur with him, and in addition have often + noticed the wide difference between the voice and manner of + expression of the gelded cat and the ordinary tom. The former + has a thin, high voice with much smaller vocabulary. As a + rule, the gelded cat does not "mew" to make known his wants, + but employs his voice for conversational purposes. A mother + cat "talks" much more than any other, and more when she has + small kittens than at other times. + </p> + <p> + Cat language has been reduced to etymology in several + tongues. In Arabia their speech is called naoua; in Chinese, + ming; in Greek, larungizein; in Sanscrit, madj, vid, bid; in + German, miauen; in French miauler; and in English, mew or + "miaouw." + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, if Professor Garner had turned his attention to cat + language instead of monkeys we would know more about it. But + a French professor, Alphonse Léon Grimaldi, of Paris, + claims that cats can talk as readily as human beings, and + that he has learned their language so as to be able to + converse with them to some extent. Grimaldi goes even + further: he not only says that he knows such a language, but + he states definitely that there are about six hundred words + in it, that it is more like modern Chinese than anything + else, and to prove this contention, gives a small vocabulary. + </p> + <p> + Most of us would prefer to accept St. George Mivart's + conclusions, that the difference between all animals and + human beings is that while they have some means of + communication, or language, we only have the gift of speech. + Among the eighteen distinct active powers which he attributes + to the cat, he quotes: "16th, powers of pleasurable or + painful excitement on the occurrence of sense-perceptions + with imaginations, <i>emotions</i>;" and "17th, a power of + expressing feelings by sounds or gestures which may affect + other individuals,—<i>emotional language</i>." + </p> + <p> + Again he says: "The cat has a language of sounds and gestures + to express its feelings and emotions. So have we. But we have + further—which neither the cat, nor the bird, nor the + beast has—a language and gestures to express our + thoughts." The sum of his conclusions seems to be that while + the cat has a most highly developed nervous system, and much + of what is known as "animal intelligence," it is not a human + intelligence—not consciousness, but "con-sentience." + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere St. George Mivart doubts if a cat distinguishes + odors as such. Perhaps a cat starts for the kitchen the + instant he smells meat because of the mental association of + the scent with the gratification of hunger; but why, pray + tell, do some cats evince such delight in delicate perfumes? + Our own Pomp the First, for instance, had a most + demonstrative fondness for violets, and liked the scent of + all flowers. One winter I used to bring home a bunch of Parma + or Russian violets every day or two, and put them in a small + glass bowl of water. It soon became necessary to put them on + the highest shelf in the room, and even then Pompey would + find them. Often have I placed them on the piano, and a few + minutes later seen him enter the room, lift his nose, give a + few sniffs, and then go straight to the piano, bury his nose + in the violets, and hold it there in perfect ecstacy. And + usually, wherever they were placed, the bunch was found the + next morning on the floor, where Pompey had carried the + violets, and holding them between his paws for a time, had + surfeited himself with their delicious fragrance. + </p> + <p> + Still, I am not prepared to say that Pompey had any word for + violets, or for anything else that ministered to his delight. + It was enough for him to be happy; and he had better ways of + expressing it. + </p> + <p> + Cats do have the power of making people understand what they + want done, but so far as my knowledge of them goes, some of + the most intelligent ones "talk" the least. Thomas Erastus, + whose intelligence sometimes amounts to a knowledge that + seems almost uncanny, seldom utters a sound. + </p> + <p> + There is—or was—a black cat belonging to the city + jail of a Californian town, named "Inspector Byrnes," because + of his remarkable assistance to the police force. When, one + night, a prisoner in the jail had stuffed the cracks to his + cell with straw, and turned on the gas in an attempt to + commit suicide, "Inspector Byrnes" hurried off and notified + the night keeper that something was wrong, and induced him to + go to the cell in time to save the prisoner's life. He once + notified the police when a fire broke out on the premises, + and at another time made such a fuss that they followed + him—to discover a woman trying to hang herself. Again, + some of the prisoners plotted to escape, and the cat crawled + through the hole they had filed and called the warden's + attention to it. In fact, there was no doubt that "Inspector + Byrnes" considered himself assistant warden at the jail, and + he did not waste much time in talk either. + </p> + <p> + The Pretty Lady had ways of her own to make us know when + things were wrong in the household, although she used to + utter a great many sounds, either of pleasure or + perturbation, which we came to understand. I remember one + morning, when my sister was ill upstairs, that I had + breakfasted and sat down to read my morning's mail, when the + Pretty Lady came, uttering sounds that denoted + dissatisfaction with matters somewhere. I was busy, and at + first paid no attention to her; but she grew more persistent, + so that I finally laid down my letters and asked: "What is + it, Puss? Haven't you had breakfast enough?" I went out to + the kitchen, and she followed, all the time protesting + articulately. She would not touch the meat I offered, but + evidently wanted something entirely different. Just then my + sister came down and said:— + </p> + <p> + "I wish you would go up and see H. She is suffering terribly, + and I don't know what to do for her." + </p> + <p> + At that the Pretty Lady led the way into the hall and up the + stairs, pausing at every third step to make sure I was + following, and leading me straight to my sister. Then she + settled herself calmly on the foot-board and closed her eyes, + as though the whole affair was no concern of hers. Afterward, + my sister said that when the pain became almost unendurable, + so that she tossed about and groaned, the Pretty Lady came + close to her face and talked to her, just as she did to her + kittens when they were in distress, showing plainly that she + sympathized with and would help her. When she found it + impossible to do this, she hurried down to me. And then + having got me actually up to my sister's bedside, she threw + off her own burden of anxiety and settled into her usual calm + content. + </p> + <p> + "My Goliath is at the helm now," she expressed by her + attitude, "and the world is sure to go right a little longer + while I take a nap." + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + <p> + + </p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Concerning Cats, by Helen M. 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