THE CAT= 



attic, or dark corner of the cellar, have no idea of 

 all the diversion and pleasure that they lose. It 

 is delightful to watch the little blind, sprawling, 

 feeble, helpless things develop swiftly into the 

 grace and agility of kittenhood. It is delightful 

 to see the mingled pride and anxiety of the mother, 

 whose parental love increases with every hour of 

 care, and who exhibits her young family as if they 

 were infant Gracchi, the hope of all their race. 

 During Nero's extreme youth, there were times, I 

 admit, when Agrippina wearied both of his com- 

 panionship and of her own maternal duties. Once 

 or twice she abandoned him at night for the 

 greater luxury of my bed, where she slept tran- 

 quilly by my side, unmindful of the little wailing 

 cries with which Nero lamented her desertion. 

 Once or twice the heat of early summer tempted her 

 to spend the evening on the piazza roof which lay 

 beneath my windows, and I have passed some anx- 

 ious hours awaiting her return, and wondering 

 what would happen if she never came back, and I 

 were left to bring up the baby by hand. 



But as the days sped on, and Nero grew rapidly 

 in beauty and intelligence, Agrippina's affection 

 for him knew no bounds. She could hardly bear 

 to leave him, even for a little while, and always 

 came hurrying back to him with a loud, frightened 

 103 



