SOME CATS OF FRANCE 207 



lay a gentle, remonstrating paw upon the singer's 

 lips. Again and again, says Gautier, this experi- 

 ment was tried by guests who deemed such inter- 

 ruption an amusement ; and again and again it had 

 the same result. Beyond a certain pitch, their 

 voices were never permitted to rise. " The dilettante 

 in fur was not to be deceived." 



After Madame Theophile, the cat who seems to 

 have lain closest to his master's heart was Pierrot, 

 so named in infancy because he wore spotless white ; 

 though later in life he won for himself a more dis- 

 tinguished title, — like Bentham's Sir John Lang- 

 bourne, — and became known to Parisian society as 

 Don Pierrot de Navarre. He was of an affectionate 

 disposition, though tranquil and self-contained ; 

 never effusive, but delighting in the refinements of 

 confidential and sympathetic intercourse. "He 

 shared the life of the household," writes M. Gautier, 

 "with that enjoyment of quiet fireside friendship 

 which is a characteristic of cats. He had his own 

 place on the hearth, and would sit there for hours, 

 listening to conversation with a well-bred air of 

 intelligence and interest. He glanced occasionally 

 from speaker to speaker, and addressed them with 

 little half - articulate sounds, as though protesting 

 politely against their statements, or offering an 

 opinion of his own upon the matter under discus- 

 sion. He loved books, and, when he found one 



