The Book of Cats. 293 



" ' Well, dost thou, Lady,' said a quiet sensible 

 man, a merchant here, ' to be kind to the Cat, for I 

 daresay he gets little enough at home ; his father, 

 poor man, cannot cook for his children every day ; ' 

 and then in an explanatory tone to the company : 

 * That's Alee Nasseeree's boy, Yussuf ; it must be 

 Yussuf, because his fellow-twin, Ismaeen, is with 

 his uncle at Negadeh.' 



" ' Mir gruselte ' (I shuddered), I confess ; not 

 but what I have heard things almost as absurd 

 from gentlemen and ladies in Europe, but an * ex- 

 travagance ' in a kuftan has quite a different effect 

 from one in a tail-coat. 



" 'What! My butcher-boy who brings the meat — 

 a Cat ? ' I gasped. 



" ' To be sure, and he knows well where to look 

 for a bit of good cookery, you see. All twins go 

 out as Cats at night, if they go to sleep hungry ; 

 and their own bodies lie at home like dead, mean- 

 while, but no one must touch them or they would 

 die. When they grow up to ten or twelve they 

 leave it off. Why, your own boy, Achmet, does it. 

 Ho, Achmet ! ' 



"Achmet appears. 



" ' Boy, don't you go out as a Cat at night } ' 



" ' No,' said Achmet tranquilly, * I am not a twin. 

 My sister's sons do.' 



