=THE CAT 



object of affection, unless, indeed, the paternal 

 junk held some forlorn Chinese child, as joyless, 

 as famished, as friendless as herself; a child who, 

 perishing perchance in that miserable abode, would 

 leave no more trace of its incomplete existence than 

 she had done. 



At last one small paw was lifted, oh, so deli- 

 cately, so discreetly, and after a long, anxious look, 

 Moumoutte, believing the time had now come for 

 venturing all things, took heart of grace, and 

 leaped upon my knee. 



There she curled herself, but with tact and re- 

 serve, seeming to make her little body as light as 

 possible, a mere featherweight, and never taking 

 her eyes from my face. She stayed a long time, 

 inconveniencing me greatly ; but I lacked the cour- 

 age to put her down, as I should have done had she 

 been pretty and gay. Nervously aware of my 

 least movement, she watched me intently, not as 

 though fearing I would do her harm, — she was too 

 intelligent to think me capable of such a thing, — 

 but as though to ask, " Are you sure I do not 

 weary or offend you? " Then her disquietude 

 softened into cajolery, and her eyes, lifted to 

 mine, said with charming distinctness : " On this 

 autumn evening, so dreary to the soul of a cat, 

 since we two are isolated in this unquiet abode, and 



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