Concerning Cats 



anyway ? " And again he led his various wives bam. 

 ward. 



Mr. McGinty drew up with a surprised air, and 

 apparently made a cursory study of the leading ana- 

 tomical features of this strange bird ; but he did not 

 like to give up, and soon crouched and prepared 

 for another onslaught. This time Mr. Chanticleer 

 allowed the cat to come up close to his flock, when 

 he turned and remarked in the most amicable man- 

 ner, " Cut-cut-cut-cut ! " which interpreted seemed to 

 mean: "Come now; that's all right. You're evi- 

 dently new here; but you'd better take my advice 

 and not fool with me." 



Anyhow, with this, down went McGinty's hope of a 

 bird breakfast " to the bottom of the sea," and he gave 

 up the hunt. He soon made friends, however, with 

 every animal on the place, and so endeared himself to 

 the owners that he lived out his days there with a hun- 

 dred acres and more as his own happy hunting-ground. 



Not so, the Pretty Lady. I went away on a short 

 visit after a few weeks, leaving her behind. From the 

 moment of my disappearance she was uneasy and 

 unhappy. On the fifth day she disappeared. When 

 I returned and found her not, I am not ashamed to 

 say that I hunted and called her everywhere, nor even 

 that I shed a few tears when days rolled into weeks 

 and she did not appear, as I realized that she might 

 be starving, or have suffered tortures from some 

 larger animal. 



20 



