Concerning my Other Cats 



kitten arrived at the age when she considered them 

 a necessary part of his education. 



Professor Shaler in his interesting book on the 

 intelligence of animals gives the cat only the merest 

 mention, intimating that he considers them below par 

 in this respect, and showing little real knowledge of 

 them. I wish he might have known the Pretty Lady. 



Once our Lady Betty had four little Angora kit- 

 tens. She was probably the most aristocratic cat in 

 the country, for she kept a wet nurse. Poor Jane, of 

 commoner strain, had two small kittens the day after 

 the Angora family appeared. Jane's plebeian infants 

 promptly disappeared, but she took just as promptly 

 to the more aristocratic family and fulfilled the duties 

 of nurse and maid. Both cats and four kittens occu- 

 pied the same bureau drawer, and when either cat 

 wanted the fresh air she left the other in charge; 

 and there was a tacit understanding between them 

 that the fluffy, fat babies must never be left alone one 

 instant. Four small and lively kittens in the house 

 are indeed things of beauty, and a joy as long as 

 they last. Four fluffy little Angora balls they were. 

 Chin, Chilla, Bufifie, and Orange Pekoe, names that 

 explain their color. And Jane, wet nurse and wait- 

 ing-maid, had to keep as busy as the old woman that 

 lived in a shoe. Jane it was who must look after the 

 infants when Lady Betty wished to leave the house. 

 Jane it was who must scrub the furry quartet until 

 their silky fur stood up in bunches the wrong way 



33 



