124 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



never for an instant is her vigilance relaxed. She 

 is the inheritor of ancient animosity and of ancient 

 wrongs. 



Another and equally admirable view of plebeian 

 cathood is presented in a picture by Claus Meyer, 

 which is one of the gems of the modern gallery in 

 Dresden. Three women sit gossiping in the bare 

 grey sacristy of a church or convent, and three 

 young cats sit near them on the floor; — gutter 

 cats these, rough-coated, scrawny, suspicious from 

 infancy of a dubious world. A shallow dish of milk 

 has been set forth for their refreshment ; but only 

 one ventures hesitatingly, and, with her gaze fixed 

 on her companions, to lap a very little. The other 

 two eye each other cautiously from a safe distance. 

 The smallest and raggedest of the group is a mere 

 kitten, all ears and neck after the fashion of its 

 kind, owlish in aspect, and wise with uncanny wis- 

 dom. Little 



" Cat-gossips full of Canterbury tales," 



and only waiting for matured acquaintance to ex-* 

 change confidences that will put mere human scan- 

 dal to the blush, they are all three adorable in their 

 hideousness. To the true lover of the race, shining 

 fur and rounded limbs are not the only charms. 



" He that loves a rosy cheek," 



or its feline equivalent, may lose much in the char- 



