to houses and never to human beings. I 

 could cite many cases, but I will content 

 myself with that of Venus. 

 %& Venus was a tortoiseshell waif who ap- 

 peared one morning, Heaven knows whence, 

 in our garden. She announced her presence 

 to me by pitiful mewings, and then, in answer 

 to a call, she revealed herself, a thin, woe- 

 begone figure with a patchy coat and a long, 

 stiff, attenuated tail. As soon as she had made 

 up her mind about me her friendship and 

 devotion began to gush forth. She rubbed 

 herself round and round my legs ; she showed 

 herself, as a little boy once said of another 

 cat, extraordinarily fond of the human hand. 

 She followed me about the garden, purring 

 madly whenever I touched her ; she came 

 with me toward the house and accepted a 

 bowl of milk with rapture. Thenceforward 

 she was my intimate and affectionate friend. 

 Yet it was only by slow degrees that I was 

 able to coax her into the house, and her atti- 

 tude in it was never one of complete ease. 

 47 D * %Z She 



