THB CAT. 



parr of boots possessed by me at that period. They were 

 creaky boots, and fastened with laces. Whether it was that the 

 creaking of the articles as I moved about the room in them 

 reminded him of the squeak of rats, and whether, not bemg a 

 particularly tidy boy, the before-mentioned laces were some- 

 times allowed to trail rat's tail wise, aggravatingly heightening 

 the illusion, I can't say ; I only know that as sure as I hap- 

 pened to allow my small feet to swing loosely while seated at 

 breakfast or dinner, so surely would the black and white cat, 

 if he were in the room, make a sudden dash at the hated boots, 

 giving my leg a severe wrench in his endeavour to fling him- 

 self on his back for the purpose of tearing the life out of them 

 after his own peculiar mode. 



My enemy was, however, finally subdued, and in rather a 

 curious way. Some one bought me one of those difficult 

 musical instruments known as a mouth organ, and delighted 

 with my new possession I was torturing it as I sat on a seat 

 in the garden. Suddenly there appeared in a tree just above 

 my head my foe, the black and white cat, with her tail waving 

 from side to side, her eyes staring, and her mouth twitching in 

 an odd sort of way. I must confess I was rather alarmed, 

 and in my nervous condition I might be excused if I construed 

 the expression of the cat's countenance to intimate " Here yon 

 are then with another hideous noise, a noise that is even more 

 suggestive of rat squeaking than your abominable boots ; how- 

 ever, I've caught you by yourself this time, so look out for your 

 eyes." I did not, however, cease playing my orgau; my 

 enemy's green eyes seemed to fascinate me, and my tremulous 

 breath continued to wail in the organ pipes. Slowly the black 

 and white cat descended the tree, and presently leapt at my 

 feet with a bound that thrilled through me, and expelled a 

 scream-hke note from my instrument. But, to my astonish- 

 ment, my enemy did not attack me ; on the contrary he 

 approached the offending boots humbly, and caressed them 

 with his head. Still I continued to play, and after every inch 

 of my bluchers had received homage from the cat's hitherto 

 terrible muzzle, he sprang on to the seat beside me, and purred 

 and gently mewed, and finally crept up on to my shoulders, 

 and lovingly smelt at the mouth-organ as I played it. Prom 

 that day hostilities ceased between us. He would sit on my 

 shoulders for half an hour together and sing, after his fashion, 

 while I played, and I had only to strike up to lure him from 

 any part of the premises where he might happen to be. 



