THE CAT 



mew, as if fearing he might have been stolen in 

 her absence. At night she purred over him for 

 hours, or made little gurgling noises expressive of 

 ineffable content. She resented the careless curi- 

 osity of strangers, and was a trifle supercilious 

 when the cook stole softly in to give vent to her 

 fervent admiration. But from first to last she 

 shared with me her pride and pleasure; and the 

 joy in her beautiful eyes, as she raised them to 

 mine, was frankly confiding and sympathetic. 

 When the infant Claudius rolled for the first time 

 over the ledge of the closet, and lay sprawling on 

 the bedroom floor, it would have been hard to say 

 which of us was the more elated at his prowess. 

 A narrow pink ribbon of honour was at once tied 

 around the small adventurer's neck, and he was 

 pronounced the most daring and agile of kittens. 

 From that day his brief career was a series of bril- 

 liant triumphs. 



A Kitten, Agnes Repplier. 



104 



