7 he Book of Cats. ■ 1 43 



the dog conquered, and the Cat was driven away ; 

 but the servant, whose sweetheart the dog dis- 

 turbed, poisoned him, and his body was carried 

 lifeless into the courtyard. The Cat, from a neigh- 

 bouring roof, was observ-ed to watch the motions of 

 several persons who went up to look at him, and 

 when all had retired, he descended and crept 

 cautiously towards the body, then patted it with 

 his paw. Apparently satisfied that the dog's day 

 was over, Puss re-entered the house and washed 

 his face before the fire. 



The Reverend Gilbert White, in his amusing 

 book, tells of a boy, who having taken three little 

 young squirrels in their nest or " dray," put these 

 small creatures under the care of a Cat that had 

 lately lost her kittens, and found that she nursed 

 and suckled them with the same assiduity and affec- 

 tion as if they were her own ofTspring. This cir- 

 cumstance, to some extent, corroborates the stories 

 told of deserted children being nurtured by female 

 beasts of prey who had lost their young, of the 

 truth of which some authors have seriously vouched. 

 Many people went to see the little squirrels suckled 

 by the Cat, and the foster mother became jealous 

 of her charge, and fearing for their safety, hid them 

 over the ceiling, where one died. This circumstance 



