296 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



of April. No cajolery could persuade him to lin- 

 ger after his appointed time. He went, and the 

 household mourned his absence, until the first 

 bleak November days brought him back to resume 

 his old place by the fire. Like Persephone, he 

 seemed compelled to divide his year between two 

 homes and two claimants. He might have served, as 

 well as Demeter's daughter, to mark the relentless 

 succession of the seasons. 



"Every one is aware," says Mr. Lang, "that a 

 perfectly comfortable, well-fed cat will occasionally 

 come to his house and settle there, deserting a 

 family by whom it is lamented, and to whom it 

 could, if it chose, find its way back with ease. This 

 conduct is a mystery which may lead us to infer 

 that cats form a great secret society, and that they 

 come and go in pursuance of some policy connected 

 with education, or perhaps with witchcraft. We 

 have known a cat to abandon his home for years. 

 Once in six months he would return, and look 

 about him with an air of some contempt. ' Such,' 

 he seemed to say, 'were my humble beginnings.' " 



The most curious instance of this strange trait 

 that ever came under my immediate notice occurred 

 a few years ago in Baltimore. A mother puss with 

 three young kittens made her appearance one morn- 

 ing at the door of a very enlightened and cat-loving 

 family. They were welcomed generously, not as 



