TEE CAT. 



There used to come to our house a young man who played 

 the trombone, and having heard the story, insisted that there 

 was nothing in it — that all cats liked music, and that savage 

 as was our cat to strangers, he would be bound to conquer 

 him with a single blast of his favourite instrument. Next 

 time he came armed with the terrible-looking trombone, which 

 our cat no sooner saw than — as I now knew her nature better 

 than any one else could — she took a violent dislike to it. 

 Placing our cat in a favourable position, the young man blew a 

 blast on the trombone; the effect was, as he prognosticated, 

 instantaneous, though not perfectly satisfactory; the brazen 

 note was immediately responded to by one equally loud from 

 our cat, who appeared to regard it as a challenge to combat, 

 and thickened his tail and bared his teeth accordingly, at the 

 same time swearing and spitting dreadfully. I need not say 

 that the trombone player was discomfited, while my fame as a 

 cat-charmer was considerably augmented. 



Apropos of cat charming, I have a vivid recollection of once 

 " charming" a cat to within an inch of getting myself thoroughly 

 well thrashed. There lived in our neighbourhood a kind-hearted 

 old gentleman who was good enough to take a fancy to my im- 

 gratefdl self and would frequently invite me — ^he was a bachelor 

 — ^to dine with him. The dining part of the business I had not 

 the least objection to, but after dinner, when we had chatted 

 tm he fell into a doze, it became to a boy nine years old rather 

 tedious. It was on one such occasion that I behaved so dis- 

 gracefully. The old gentleman was nodding, with his slippered 

 feet crossed easily before the fire, and a fat tortoiseshell cat, his 

 property, lay along the rug placidly asleep too. Had I been a 

 good boy I should have sat still and turned the leaves of " Pox's 

 Book of Martyrs" till my friend awoke. But I was not a good 

 boy. I felt myself like a martyr, doomed to the dreadful 

 torture of sitting still. I felt in my pocket for a top-string I 

 had there, and for a minute or so amused myself by bobbing 

 the button at the end of the string on to the nose of the tor- 

 toiseshell cat, till I had roused that lazy animal to a state of 

 extreme irritability. This sport after a while grew tame, so I 

 shifted the string and allowed it to dangle within an inch of 

 my host's feet. BeaUy it was done with scarce a thought, but 

 the result was rather astonishing. The tortoisesheU cat, who 

 all the time kept her eye on the tormenting string, no sooner 

 saw it at a distance convenient to spring at, made a bound, 

 and missing the cord fiercely embraced one of the slippered 



