THE CAT 



There is also a Scandinavian version of the ever 

 famous story which Sir Walter Scott told to Wash- 

 ington Irving, which " Monk " Lewis told to Shel- 

 ley, and which, in one form or another, we find 

 embodied in the folk-lore of every land, — the story 

 of the traveller who saw within a ruined abbey a 

 procession of cats, lowering into its grave a little 

 coffin with a crown upon it. Filled with horror, he 

 hastened from the spot; but when he reached his 

 destination, he could not forbear relating to a 

 friend the wonder he had seen. Scarcely had the 

 tale been told, when his friend's cat, who lay curled 

 up tranquilly by the fire, sprang to his feet, cried 

 out, " Then I am the King of the Cats ! " and dis- 

 appeared in a flash up the chimney. 



The Fireside Sphinx, Agnes Repplieb. 



46 



