144 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



boatswain, however, was more sanguine ; for hav- 

 ing stripped himself of his jacket, breeches, and 

 shirt, he leaped boldly into the water, and, to my 

 great astonishment, in a few minutes returned 

 to the ship, bearing the motionless animal in his 

 mouth. Nor was this, I observed, a matter of such 

 great difficulty as it appeared to my ignorance, and 

 possibly may seem to that of my fresh-water reader. 

 The kitten was now exposed to air and sun on the 

 deck, where its life, of which it retained no symp- 

 toms, was despaired of by all. 



" The captain's humanity did not so totally destroy 

 his philosophy as to make him yield himself up to 

 affliction. Having felt his loss lik^ a man, he re- 

 solved to show he could bear it like one ; and, after 

 declaring he had rather have lost a cask of rum or 

 brandy, he betook himself to threshing at back- 

 gammon with the Portuguese friar, in which inno- 

 cent amusement they passed their leisure hours." 



Strange to say, this much prized kitten recovered 

 from its prolonged submersion, only to be found 

 smothered in a cabin bed a few days later, having 

 recklessly squandered all its little lives before one 

 of them reached maturity. 



Steele makes constant allusions to his cat in the 

 " Tatler," — pretty homelike allusions, all of them, 

 though no man was more impatient than he of the 

 prodigal affection lavished by ladies upon their pets. 



