2i6 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



tained her sprightliness and charm until the end ; 

 and left behind her nothing but cheerful memories 

 upon which it is a pleasure to dwell. She was the 

 last of the Black Dynasty. In her corner of Ely- 

 sium she plays forever with the other pussies of her 

 royal race; and perhaps her urbane little shade 

 was the first to greet and welcome two cats, — two 

 fortunate and famous cats who died in France not 

 very long ago ; Moumoutte Blanche and Moumoutte 

 Chinoise, immortalized by M. Loti's facile pen. 



No one familiar with the " Vies de Deux Chattes," 

 can hope to rival these short and exquisite biogra- 

 phies. Their perfection is at once the delight and 

 the despair of other toilers in the field. Written, 

 says the author, " for my son, Samuel, when he 

 knows how to read," they have recompensed many 

 of us for the sad labour of the alphabet ; for the 

 double labour of two alphabets, if we chance to be 

 Saxon born. People to whom a primrose is a prim- 

 rose, and a cat a cat, may be liberally educated by 

 a sympathetic study of these delicate, and discrimi- 

 nating memoirs. Less playful and amusing than 

 M. Gautier's chronicles, they show a deeper insight 

 into feline character ; they are more close and ac- 

 curate in their descriptions, more touching in their 

 pathos, more clear-sighted in their generalizations. 

 Gautier's cats have, each and all, a charming individ- 

 uality. We feel their beauty, we acknowledge their 



