A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 1 93 



ing of his family, of course it will be understood 

 that Calvin was his Christian name. He had 

 times of relaxation into utter playfulness, delight- 

 ing in a ball of yarn, catching sportively at stray 

 ribbons when his mistress was at her toilet, and 

 pursuing his own tail, with hilarity, for lack of 

 anything better. He could amuse himself by 

 the hour, and he did not care for children ; per- 

 haps something in his past was present to his 

 memory. He had absolutely no bad habits, and 

 his disposition was perfect. I never saw him 

 exactly angry, though I have seen his tail grow 

 to an enormous size when a strange cat ap- 

 peared upon his lawn. He disliked cats, evi- 

 dently regarding them as feline and treacherous, 

 and he had no association with them. Occa- 

 sionally there would be heard a night concert 

 in the shrubbery. Calvin would ask to have 

 the door opened, and then you would hear a 

 rush and a " pestzt," and the concert would ex- 

 9 M 



