THE DARK AGES 25 



to animals. He could teach that lesson of kindness 

 to every Christian nation in the world. But his 

 benevolence has in it a curious element of caprice. 

 While the Pariah dog struggles from puppyhood to 

 old age for the bare livelihood yielded him by im- 

 memorial usage, the cat is still, as she has always 

 been, a pampered plaything, smothered in luxury, 

 surfeited with indulgence. Who that has ever seen 

 the cats of Stamboul can forget those beautiful Per- 

 sians, snow-white, indolent, amber-eyed, carried in 

 the arms of Nubian slave-women, and clawing un- 

 gratefully at their careful guardians ! And who that 

 has watched a surly little Turkish soldier soften and 

 brighten into smiles over the antics of a litter of 

 kittens, snugly domiciled in his sentry-box where 

 surely kittens had no right to be, can doubt the 

 love the Moslem bears — in imitation of the Prophet 

 — for Muezza's furry kindred ! 



Travellers in the Orient have brought back strange 

 and delightful tales of Pussy's dignities and high 

 estate. According to these, probably fabulous, but 

 always pleasing reports, the cats belonging to the 

 Shah of Persia rival in numbers and in beauty the 

 wives of King Solomon. At Persian banquets, 

 troops of cats, stately and soft-footed, glide in and 

 out among the guests with silent courtesy, offering 

 no disturbance, but merely honouring with their 

 presence the master of the feast. In Siam and 



