SOME CATS OF FRANCE 



227 



pitying eyes and helping hands ; the prolonged 

 agony of Moumoutte Blanche who fought piteously 

 for her fast ebbing life ; — these things we have 

 read in mournful moments, wishing them all the 

 time untold, just as we wish their author would not 

 suddenly intrude some unseemly jest upon us when 

 we are least attuned to its reception. 



Yet never has a cat of character been drawn 

 with the careful and sympathetic art bestowed upon 

 Moumoutte Chinoise. She is the Jane Eyre of , 

 pussies ; ugly, intelligent, sensitive, passionate, self- 

 controlled, intrepid, and vivacious. M. Loti can 

 hardly be said to resemble Rochester ; but, like 

 that beatified barbarian, he had the quality of dis- 

 cernment, which enabled him to see the spirit and 

 charm hidden beneath so mean and shabby an ex- 

 terior. 



" Elle a, dans sa laideur piquante, 



Un grain de sel de cette mer, 



D'ou jaillit, nue et provocante, 



L'Scre Venus du gouffre amer." 



