THE CAT TO-DAY 241 



self and man, seeks ever to be intelligent and intelli- 

 gible, and translates into looks and actions the words ' 

 he cannot speak, the cat dwells within the circle 

 of her own secret thoughts. She scorns la vie de 

 parade, and makes no effort to reveal herself to 

 us, save when we minister to her needs, or when, 

 in some sweet impulse of cajolery, she gives us 

 transient tokens of regard. Gautier and Loti en- 

 joyed many such moments, because they were so 

 sensitively attuned to their felicity ; but that they 

 held Madame Theophile or Moumoutte Chinoise 

 in the bonds of indissoluble friendship, I cannot 

 find it in my heart to believe. They would never 

 have prized so highly an affection of which they 

 entertained no doubt. 



As for those foolish moderns who write papers 

 for magazines to prove that the cat is a sorely slan- 

 dered animal, and who represent their own pets as 

 entertaining for them a profound and respectful 

 passion, they cherish their illusions cheaply. " I 

 observe authors," says Mr. Lang, " who speak con- 

 cerning cats with a familiarity and a levity most 

 distasteful." Like the people who write gossipy 

 books about emperors and empresses, they assume 

 an air of easy intimacy, " a great and disrespectful 

 license," which they deem elevates them to equality. 

 They also attribute to their cats a host of intolerable 

 virtues which would put to shame the little girls 



