THE CAT: 



A Sailor 



A ship cat loves its home as unswervingly as does 

 the happier animal whose lot is cast amid gardens 

 and moonlit walls. To the landsman's prejudiced 

 eye there is little choice in boats, especially in the 

 dismal and dirty cargo boats " that sail the wet seas 

 roun'." They may be " England's pride," but, as 

 permanent habitations, they seem to lack every- 

 thing that would appeal to the refined instincts and 

 restless habits of a cat. Yet Pussy is as faithful 

 to her " hollow oak " as poets have ever pretended 

 to be, and will not barter its manifold discomforts 

 for the pleasant firesides of earth. A very beauti- 

 ful cat, carried in infancy from some remote vil- 

 lage in the Apennines, was given as a mascot to 

 the Italian captain of an oil-tank steamer which 

 ran between Savona and Point Breeze, Philadelphia. 

 In the course of time she presented the ship with 

 a family of kittens, who were less than a month 

 old when the Philadelphia docks were reached. 

 Like other sailors, Pussy indulged in some irregu- 

 larities while on shore; and, as the result of pro- 

 longed dissipation, she was found to be missing when 

 the Bayonne was loaded, and ready to depart. 

 Search was made in vain about the wharves; and 

 Captain Hugo was compelled, not only to sail 

 137 



