THE CAT; 



and, in these hundred years, English writers have 

 at last learned to value at their utmost worth the 

 qualities which so long repelled enthusiasm. They 

 have much to say about the cat's beauty; but they 

 grow eloquent over her love of liberty, her manifest 

 reserves, her contemptuous serenity of bearing. 

 They describe with delight her nocturnal wander- 

 ings, her human interest in her own comfort, the 

 calmness with which she permits herself to be 

 waited upon, and her steadfast refusal to bend her 

 will to the capricious demands of humanity. They 

 have discovered that she is the most charming of 

 play-fellows, the most soothing of companions ; and 

 that the friendship which is hard to win and hard 

 to hold is worth at least as much as the friendship 

 which is given for the asking. 



I have laboured con amore to pursue the vicissi- 

 tudes and the triumphs of the cat, as set forth in 

 French and English letters. I have tracked her 

 soft footprints along quiet paths and broad high- 

 ways. I offer the fruits of my toil to all who 

 share my deference for the most self-respecting, 

 my admiration for the most charming, my love for 

 the most lovable of beasts. 



xvn 



