FISHING CATS, 



=35 



guidwife and bairns were abed, the boatman kept watch 

 from the cottage window, and by the aid of a bright moon 

 the mystery was soon solved. At the well-side stood puss, 

 the favourite of the household; with arched back and 

 extended paw she took her prey. When an unfortunate 

 minnow approached the surface, sharp was the dash made 

 by puss, arm and shoulder were boldly immersed, and 

 straightway the victim lay gasping on the bank. Fishing in 

 this manner, she soon captured half-a-dozen, and was then 

 driven away. From that evening the well was always 

 covered with a net, which scared puss into enforced honesty. 

 By nature cats love dry warmth and sunshine, whilst they 

 hate water and cold. Who has not seen the misery of a 

 cat when compelled to step into a shallow pool, and how 

 she examines her wet paw with anxiety, holding it up as 

 something to be pitied ? And yet the passion of destructive- 

 ness is so strong within them as to overcome even their 

 aversion to water." 



