173 



MY FRIEND AND HIS CAT. 



A MAN, whose mind is softened with a little feeling, will allow 

 few objects to pass his notice, without deriving interest therefrom ; 

 and if he be highly sensitive, a large field must open before him, 

 in which he can either occupy his agreeable leisure, or pursue his 

 odd likings. Let it, therefore, be supposed, that such a character 

 was applicable to my friend, since any other would be inconsis- 

 tent; and then it may be admitted, that, while he stood conspi- 

 cuous for affection among the more noble of his household, a 

 diverging ray might extend in the name of attachment to the 

 igr^oble ; and that he might therefore like a tabby cat, which, 

 indeed, forms the only subject of the present lengthy communi- 

 cation. 



At the time of the catastrophe, Tabby's master was a bachelor; 

 and having leisure promoting inclination, like, perhaps, the single 

 of the other sex, he shewed great attention to all the instinctive 

 movements of his pussy. This attention was either so becomingly 

 appreciated or kindly repaid by his cat, that she invariably re- 

 lieved him from the necessity of a call ; for where he was, she 

 managed to be in juxta-position, or pretty nearly so. At meal 

 times, in particular, she took her seat with such orderly silence, 

 as induced her master to hold her up as a suitable example to 

 little misbehaved bipeds. At night, she would follow him to his 

 bedroom door, take the mat for her couch; and in the morning 

 would greet him with a kindly purr, and accompany him, stair 

 by stair, tail erect, and stop as he might stop, for the agreeable 

 purpose of witnessing her sagacity. These qualities \{ not great, 

 were good in a cat ; and therefore frequently formed the subject 

 of conversation. 



How long thus happily puss and her master lived, I cannot to 

 a day or two determine ; but it could not be less than three 

 years, and that period of comfort might have extended to the 

 present, had it not been for the intrusion of another of her 

 species, which my friend no sooner saw, than he opened his 

 hospitable door, and took the stranger in. This cat was not half 

 grown, but, looking cleanly, was allowed a few minutes dalliance 

 upon 'the knee of Tabby's master, and in this caressed position, it 

 was first seen by the household pussy. It was an indulgence 

 not even allowed to Tabby, but whether she felt so much, must 

 be left to the nice determination of the philosophic zoologist. 

 Be this as it may, it is necessary to remark, in support of her 



