CALVIN: A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 177 



children ; perhaps something in his past was 

 present to his memory. He had absolutely 

 no bad habits, and his disposition was per- 

 fect. I never saw him exactly angry, though 

 I have seen his tail grow to an enormous 

 size when a strange cat appeared upon his 

 lawn. He disliked cats, evidently regard- 

 ing them as feline and treacherous, and he 

 had no association with them. Occasionally 

 there would be heard a night concert in the 

 shrubbery. Calvin would ask to have the 

 door opened, and then you would hear a 

 rush and a " pestzt," and the concert would 

 explode, and Calvin would quietly come in 

 and resume his seat on the hearth. There 

 was no trace of anger in his manner, but he 

 would n't have any of that about the house. 

 He had the rare virtue of magnanimity. 

 Although he had fixed notions about his 

 own rights, and extraordinary persistency in 

 getting them, he never showed temper at a 

 repulse ; he simply and firmly persisted till 

 he had what he wanted. His diet was one 

 point ; his idea was that of the scholars 



