THE CA.1;. 



members with ten of her talons. For the moment I was too 

 frightened to weigh the possible consequences of laughing, and 

 laughed outright, which, with the sudden bound the old 

 gentleman gave, so alarmed the tortoiseshell cat that she flew 

 towards the door like a mad cat. I doubt, however, whether 

 its utmost agility would . have saved it from the tongs with 

 which its outraged master piirsued it, had I not ashamedly 

 explained the matter and begged forgiveness. 



I have at the present time about my house a cat that came 

 into my possession under rather singular circumstances. Befora 

 we knew her we had a cat that gave perfect satisfaction, wai 

 a good mouser, and an aflfectionate mother. In the rear of our 

 house there is a shed commonly used as a wood store, and fre- 

 quented at least once a day. It is by no means a secluded 

 place, and the door, through a weakness in its hinges, is con- 

 stantly ajar. One morning there was discovered in the shed 

 not only a strange she cat but a strange kitten with its eyes 

 open, plump, and about a fortnight old. The strange cat made 

 no attempt to stir when the maid entered, but lay suckling her 

 baby, and looking up with an expression that said as plainly as 

 cat language could, " a persecuted cat and her kitten, at your 

 service; don't drive us out, that's a good creature." More 

 singular still, before the person appealed to could consider the 

 case, our own cat peeped into the shed, and after deliberately 

 walking up to the refugees and giving them a kindly touch 

 with her nose, walked back to the servant and commenced to 

 rub against her, purring the while as though to manifest her 

 goodwill towards the strangers, and to recommend a favourable 

 consideration of their case. So they were taken in. 



As soon, however, as the novelty of the affair wore off, it 

 began to dawn on us that we did not require a " housefull" of 

 cats — though for that matter the four lived happily enough 

 together. Which should we get rid of P The strange cat's 

 kitten was too big to drown, and too little to send adrift, our 

 own "Topsy" and her daughter must of course be retained, so 

 there was nothing left but to send away the strange she cat. 

 She was rather a good looking cat, and that, coupled with her 

 known clevMness, gave us good ground for supposing that she 

 would soon find another home. It appeared, however, that we 

 did not give her credit for being nearly so clever as she was. 



It was arranged that she should be conveyed in a basket to 

 a certain square about a quarter of a mile distant, and there 

 left to seek her fortune. To the best of everybody's belief this| 



