SOME CATS OF FRANCE 211 



among the bottles on a toilet-table, smelling wist- 

 fully at the stoppers. No doubt she would have 

 used the powder puff, had she been permitted. 



"Don Pierrot, who came from Havannah, required 

 a hothouse temperature, and in this he was always 

 gratified. The house was surrounded, however, by 

 spacious gardens, over the walls of which cats could 

 easily climb. Pierrot would often take advantage 

 of an open door, and go bird-hunting at dusk through 

 the wet grass and flower beds. It even happened, 

 now and then, that his cries for readmission were 

 not heard, and he was compelled to spend the night 

 out of doors. In this way he caught a heavy cold 

 which rapidly developed into phthisis. Before the 

 end of the year he had wasted to a skeleton, and 

 his fur, once so silky, was of a dull harsh white. 

 His eyes looked large in his shrunken face, the 

 pink of his little nose had faded, and he dragged 

 himself slowly along the sunny side of the wall, 

 looking with melancholy listlessness at the yellow 

 leaves as they danced and whirled in the wind. 

 We did all in our power to save him. The doctor 

 felt his pulse, sounded his lungs, and ordered him 

 ass's milk. He drank it with ready obedience out 

 of his own especial saucer. For hours he lay upon 

 my knee like the shadow of a sphinx. I felt his 

 spine under my finger tips like the beads of a rosary, 

 and he tried to respond to my caresses with a feeble 



