A WAY OF HIS OWN. 199 



last the instantaneous dash, the slap or scratch 

 (so rapid one can never tell which), the fiery 

 expletive and retort, and the instant retreat, to 

 sit down again. There seems to be some canon 

 of feline etiquette which forbids two to meet and 

 pass without solemn formalities of this sort, 

 reminding one of the ceremonious greetings of 

 the Orient, where time is of no particular value. 

 The silver tabby was an original, and had a 

 way of his own. He seemed impatient of these 

 serious rites, and when within three feet of his 

 vis-br-vis he usually gave one great leap over the 

 intervening space, administered his salute, 

 whatever it was, and passed on. This cat was 

 peculiar in other ways. Sometimes he had the 

 whole wood to himself, and it was charming to 

 see him wander in his leisurely way all over it, 

 smelling daintily of this and that, now tasting 

 a leaf, now looking intently at some creeper or 

 crawler on the ground, now sitting down to en- 

 joy the seclusion and the silence of the wood. 

 He was a philosopher, or a lover of nature, 



" A lover who knows by heart 

 Each joy the mountain dales impart." 



One of the accusations brought against this 

 reserved little beast is that he does not love 

 man. Has he reason to do so ? Tragedies I 

 have seen on the lot, which I try to forget and 

 shall not repeat, in which small boys demon- 



