186 CALVIN: A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 



and in many purring ways show his fond- 

 ness, as if he had plainly said, "I know that 

 she has gone away, but I am here." Such 

 was Calvin in rare moments.. 



He had his limitations. Whatever pas- 

 sion he had for nature, he had no conception 

 of art. There was sent to him once a fine 

 and very expressive cat's head in bronze, by 

 Fre*miet. I placed it on the floor. He re- 

 garded it intently, approached it cautiously 

 and crouchingly, touched it with his nose, 

 perceived the fraud, turned away abruptly, 

 and never would notice it afterward. On 

 the whole, his life was not only a successful 

 one, but a happy one. He never had but 

 one fear, so far as I know : he had a mortal 

 and a reasonable terror of plumbers. He 

 would never stay in the house when they 

 were here. No coaxing could quiet him. Of 

 course he did n't share our fear about their 

 charges, but he must have had some dread- 

 ful experience with them in that portion of 

 his life which is unknown to us. A plumber 

 was to him the devil, and I have no doubt 



