THE CAT IN ART 123. 



tiful Persians play their parts to perfection ; but 

 while no one has a right to quarrel with an artist's 

 chosen field, or with the limitations thereof, we 

 cannot help wearying a little of so much softness 

 and luxury, of such perpetual alternations of pas- 

 time and sleep. Life has other aspects for a cat of 

 character. The pleasures of the chase in field and 

 barn and cupboard ; the excitement of being chased 

 in turn by her ancestral enemy, the dog ; the sweet 

 stolen moments of vagabondage ; the passionate 

 exaltation of the midnight serenade; the joy of 

 combat ; the amorous duplicity of courtship ; — what 

 fields of action stretch limitlessly out before a free- 

 born cat whose hardihood is tempered by discre- 

 tion, 



" Quickened with touches of transporting fear." 



Of all these things, Mme. Ronner's darlings, snug 

 in their silken bondage, reveal nothing. But turn 

 to Briton Riviere's spirited " Blockade Runner," in 

 the Tate Gallery of London. See how his cat flat- 

 tens herself upon the wall along which she scuttles, 

 while the frantic dogs dance helplessly beneath. 

 What concentration of purpose in that swift yet 

 stealthy pace. She lowers her ears, and shortens 

 her legs, and depresses her tail, until she is little 

 more than a moving shadow on the bricks. Hatred 

 fires her heart ; terror speeds her on her way. The 

 king in his palace is not more safe than she, yet 



