Concerning Cats 



all, he liked that " salon " because in reality he found 

 so much to amuse him in the conversation ; and perhaps 

 he was, under that guise of friendly interest in noted 

 scientists, reformers, poets, musicians, and litterateurs, 

 only whispering to himself, "O Lord, what fools 

 these mortals be ! " 



" For when I play with my cat," says Montaigne, 

 " how do I know whether she does not make a jest 

 of me ? " 



But Muff was a real nobleman among cats, and 

 extraordinarily handsome. He was a great soft gray 

 maltese with white paws and breast — mild, amiable, 

 and uncommonly intelligent. He felt it his duty to help 

 entertain Miss Booth's guests, always ; and he more 

 than once, at the beginning of a reception, came into 

 the drawing-room with a mouse in his mouth as his 

 offering to the occasion. Naturally enough "he 

 caused the stampede," as Mrs. Spofford puts it, " that 

 Mr. Gilbert forgot to put into ' Princess Ida ' when 

 her Amazons wild demonstrate their courage." 



As one of Miss Booth's intimate friends, Mrs. 

 Spofford was much at her house and became early 

 a devoted admirer of Muff's. 



" His latter days," she says, " were rendered mis- 

 erable by a little silky, gray creature, an Angora 

 named Vashti, who was a spark of the fire of the 

 lower regions wrapped round in long silky fur, and 

 who never let him alone one moment : who was full 

 of tail-lashings and racings and leapings and fury, 



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