188 CALVIN: A STUDY OF CHARACTER. 



on the green grass and luxuriate in all the 

 sweet influences of summer. You could 

 never accuse him of idleness, and yet he 

 knew the secret of repose. The poet who 

 wrote so prettily of him that his little life 

 was rounded with a sleep understated his 

 felicity ; it was rounded with a good many, 

 His conscience never seemed to interfere 

 with his slumbers. In fact, he had good 

 habits and a contented mind. I can see 

 him now walk in at the study door, sit down 

 by my chair, bring his tail artistically about 

 his feet, and look up at me with unspeak- 

 able happiness in his handsome face. I often 

 thought that he felt the dumb limitation 

 which denied him the power of language. 

 But since he was denied speech, he scorned 

 the inarticulate mouthings of the lower an- 

 imals. The vulgar mewing and yowling of 

 the cat species was beneath him ; he some- 

 times uttered a sort of articulate and well- 

 bred ejaculation, when he wished to call 

 attention to something that he considered 

 remarkable, or to some want of his, but he 



