THE COMMON PUSSY 211 



beautiful, but in cleverness and keen observa- 

 tion they do not compare with their plainer 

 contemporaries ; they are affectionate in a de- 

 gree, but they are not capable of the depth of 

 love that shines out of the eyes of a common 

 pussy, whose confidence has been won by kind- 

 ness and just treatment. 



The history of the cat is strange and inter- 

 esting. The human race itself has hardly 

 passed through such vicissitudes, from worship 

 and royal honors to the kicks and curses of 

 the superstitious and ignorant. Having, how- 

 ever, passed from the heights to the depths, 

 he is now coming to be more justly treated, 

 neither as a deity nor as an outcast, but as a 

 fellow-creature with rights like ourselves. In 

 France the cat has not only a hospital, but a 

 market. Even in New York some comfort 

 awaits him, though the persecutions of the 

 ignorant and the brutal put an end to an ex- 

 periment that was intended to furnish the 

 homeless with shelter and care. The kind 

 hearts that originated the plan have found 

 other ways to mitigate the hardships of cat 

 life among careless, selfish, or cruel people. 

 Kind, motherly women, it is said, sacrifice 



