The Shah of Persia 



-THE CAT 



Cats of his perfect beauty, of his perfect grace, 

 possibly might be found, Madame Jolicoeur grudg- 

 ingly admitted, in the Persian royal catteries ; but 

 nowhere else in the Orient, and nowhere at all in 

 the Occident, she declared with an energetic con- 

 viction, possibly could there be a cat who even ap- 

 proached him in intellectual development, in wealth 

 of interesting accomplishments, and, above all, in 

 natural sweetness of disposition, — a sweetness so 

 marked that even under extreme provocation he 

 never had been known to thrust out an angry paw. 

 This is not to say that the Shah de Perse was a 

 characterless cat, a lymphatic nonentity. On oc- 

 casions — usually in connection with food that was 

 distasteful to him — he could have his resentments ; 

 but they were manifested always with a dignified 

 restraint. His nearest approach to ill-mannered 

 abruptness was to bat with a contemptuous paw the 

 offending morsel from his plate ; which brusque act 

 he followed by fixing upon the bestower of un- 

 worthy food a coldly, but always politely contemp- 

 tuous stare. Ordinarily, however, his displeasure 

 was exhibited by no more overt action than his re- 

 tirement to a corner, — he had his choice in corners, 

 governed by the intensity of his feelings, — and 



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