246 The Book of Cats, 



Cat, till I had aroused that lazy animal to a state 

 of extreme irritability. This sport, after a while, 

 grew tame, so I shifted the string, and allowed it 

 to dangle within an inch of my host's feet. Really, 

 it was done with scarce a thought, but the result 

 was rather astonishing. The Cat, who all the time 

 kept her eye on the tormenting string, no sooner 

 saw it at a distance convenient to spring at, than 

 she made a bound, and, missing the cord, fiercely 

 embraced one of the slippered members with ten 

 of her talons. For the moment I was too frightened 

 to weigh the possible consequences of laughing, and 

 laughed outright, which, with the sudden bound the 

 old gentleman gave, so alarmed the tortoiseshell 

 Cat, that she flew towards the door like a mad Cat. 

 I doubt, however, whether its utmost agility would 

 have saved it from the tongs, with which its out- 

 raged master pursued it, had I not ashamedly 

 explained the matter, and begged forgiveness." 



" I have certainly, in my time, made the acquaint- 

 ance of some queerish Cats. When quite a little 

 boy, there was attached to our house, a quaint black 

 and white Cat whose sole recommendation was that 

 he was a magnificent mouser; nay, to such lengths 

 would he carry his passion for hunting, as regularly 

 to haunt a ditch that existed in the neighbourhood 

 for the purpose of pursuing and capturing water- 



