264 The Book of Cats. 



Here is another case : — 



A lady who kept a tame Jack Hare, in giving 

 an account of it, says, that if a Cat approached 

 him he would sit upright, " square himself," as it 

 were, and rub his paws together like a pugilist 

 preparing for an encounter. With one stroke of 

 his soft but strong paws, the hare would tear a 

 strip of the hair, and often even the skin, from the 

 Cat's back ; at other times he w^ould make his 

 sharp-cutting teeth meet in her neck ; and so for- 

 midable at last was the " timid hare " to the little 

 " domestic tiger," that no sooner did Pussy spy her 

 conqueror than she would fly in terror from his 

 presence. 



In these two anecdotes, as in many others, 

 Pussy is exhibited in a very unamiable light ; but I 

 hope that a few of the good traits I have been able 

 to relate in the foregoing pages may weigh the 

 balance in her favour with those inclined to judge 

 her fairly. As a cruel destroyer of smaller and 

 weaker animals she is most often painted, and so 

 identified is she with that character, that it is diffi- 

 cult to make those personally unacquainted with her 

 many good qualities to believe that any exist. In 

 this way an actor, famous for his villains, becomes 

 so very villainous, that even in a virtuous character 



