THE CAT TRIUMPHANT 165 



grey cat of the Brontes, watching Emily's bread- 

 making with wise, attentive eyes. She was the 

 silent sister's favourite, and Charlotte has recorded 

 the grief at Haworth when the poor little creature 

 died. There dwelt the cheerful colony of Edge- 

 worthstown cats, or such of them, at least, as were 

 not on police duty in the stables. Miss Edgeworth, 

 though no enthusiast, has left us a pleasant descrip- 

 tion of these pussies, and of their delight at the 

 reappearance of a maid who had been absent with 

 the family at Longford. " I forgot to tell you a 

 remarkable feature of our return," she writes to her 

 cousin, Sophy Ruxton. " All the cats, even those 

 who properly belong to the stable, and who had 

 never been admitted to the honours of a sitting in 

 the kitchen, crowded around Kitty with congratu- 

 latory faces, crawling up her gown, insisting upon 

 caressing and being caressed, when she reappeared 

 in the lower regions. Mr. Gilpin's slander against 

 cats, as selfish, unfeeling creatures, is refuted by 

 stubborn facts." 



That is a pretty touch of " congratulatory faces," 

 and worthy of the writer's pen. We can see the 

 topaz eyes gleaming softly in the firelight ; we can 

 hear the welcoming purr, and feel the gentle rub- 

 bing of the furry sides. It is from Miss Edgeworth, 

 too, that we learn of Joanna Baillie's cat, a splendid 

 Amazon, who once avenged the wrongs of her race 



