Concerning my Other Cats 



this as the only proper method. On one occasion I 

 had been away all day. When I got home at night 

 the housekeeper said, "Pussy has had five kittens, 

 but she won't go near them." When the Pretty 

 Lady heard my voice, she came and led the way to 

 the back room where the kittens were in the lower 

 drawer of an unused bureau, and uttered one or two 

 funny little noises, intimating that matters were not 

 altogether as they should be, according to established 

 rules of propriety. I understood, abstracted four of 

 the five kittens, and disappeared. When I came back 

 she had settled herself contentedly with the remain- 

 ing kitten, and from that time on was a model mother. 



Pompanita the Good has all the virtues of a 

 good cat, and absolutely no vices. He loves us all 

 and loves all other cats as well. As for fighting, he 

 emulates the example of that veteran who boasts that 

 during the war he might always be found where the 

 shot and shell were the thickest, — under the ammu- 

 nition wagon. Like most cats he has a decided streak 

 of vanity. My sister cut a wide, fancy collar, or ruff, 

 of white paper one day, and put it on Pompanita. At 

 first he felt much abashed and found it almost impos- 

 sible to walk with it But a few words of praise and 

 encouragement changed all that. 



" Oh, what a pretty Pomp he is now ! " exclaimed 

 one and another, until he sat up coyly and cocked his 

 head one side as if to say : — 



" Oh, now, do you really think I look pretty ? " and 

 27 



