Concerning my Other Cats 



tramp or suspicious character approaching. He 

 always goes into the kitchen when the market-man 

 calls, and orders his meat ; and at exactly five o'clock 

 in the afternoon, when the meat is cut up and dis- 

 tributed, leads the feline portion of the family into 

 the kitchen. 



Thomas knows the time of day. For six months he 

 waked up one housekeeper at exactly seven o'clock 

 in the morning, never varying two minutes. He did 

 this by seating himself on her chest and gazing 

 steadfastly in her face. Usually this waked her, but 

 if she did not yield promptly to that treatment he 

 would poke her cheeks with the most velvety of paws 

 until she awoke. He has a habit now of going up- 

 stairs and sitting opposite the closed door of the 

 young man who has to rise hours before the rest of 

 us do, and waiting until the door is opened for him. 

 How he knows at what particular moment each mem- 

 ber of the family will wake up and come forth is a 

 mystery, but he does. 



How do cats tell the hour of day, anyway } The 

 old Chinese theory that they are living clocks is, in a 

 way, borne out by their own conduct. Not only have 

 my cats shown repeatedly that they know the hour 

 of rising of every member of the family, but they 

 gather with as much regularity as the ebbing of the 

 tides, or the setting of the sun, at exactly five o'clock 

 in the afternoon for their supper. They are given a 

 hearty breakfast as soon as the kitchen fire is started 



39 



