Essays on Life 



thing she could think of, and she would try it 

 again. She seemed to say she was certain 

 there had been no knot there before she 

 must have seen it if there had been ; and yet, 

 the fly could hardly have got jammed so 

 firmly into the wood. She was puzzled and 

 irritated beyond measure, and kept looking in 

 the same place again and again, just as we do 

 when we have mislaid something. She was 

 rapidly losing temper and dignity when sud- 

 denly we saw the fly reappear from under the 

 cat's stomach and make for the window-pane, 

 at the very moment when the cat herself 

 was exclaiming for the fiftieth time that she 

 wondered where that stupid fly ever could 

 have got to. No man who has been hunting 

 twenty minutes for his spectacles could be 

 more delighted when he suddenly finds them 

 on his own forehead. " So that's where you 

 were," we seemed to hear her say, as she pro- 

 ceeded to catch it, and again began rolling it 

 very softly without hurting it, under her paw. 

 My friend and I both noticed that the cat, 

 in spite of her perplexity, never so much as 

 hinted that we were the culprits. The question 



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