language of cats: 'Shelley be hanged! 

 Come and tickle me!' I stooped and tickled 

 him. We were both profoundly affected." 

 *% I have wandered far from the statement 

 that a cat is at her best in a room, and yet I 

 cling to it. For in a room a cat confers and 

 diffuses comfort in the very act of accepting 

 it. Place her on a cushion with her front 

 paws either folded and tucked beneath her or 

 kneading her soft couch with a luxurious 

 movement, and she will make, not merely a 

 corner, but a whole library cosy. Her pres- 

 ence can ennoble a hovel and invest a semi- 

 detached cottage with an appearance of feudal 

 and heraldic repose. If you call her she 

 blinks and purrs ; if you leave her to herself 

 she is willing to pass hours in serene abstrac- 

 tion from the business of the world, conscious 

 only of her own comfortable decorative qual- 

 ity and of her self-respecting dignity. Some- 

 times she will play, but only if she wishes to 

 amuse herself, differing in this from a dog, 

 who will often play in order that he may 

 44 



