THE HOME PUSSIES 261 



the early post. Most of them are printed on thin 

 crackly paper, and when loosely crushed in the hand 

 they make nice balls that he butts and tosses and 

 chases all over the room. Or if I throw them into 

 the waste-paper basket, he jumps on its edge, and 

 tips it over and hunts out its ample contents for 

 liberal distribution about the floor. And when we 

 have the usual pussy-parade on the lawn at about 

 seven on summer evenings ; when, in turn with the 

 bigger ones, he has had some good runs and jumps 

 at the feather on the end of a whip which is the 

 orthodox plaything, in pure delight of frisk and frolic 

 he executes a pas seul on his own account, making a 

 rapid series of monkey-jumps with high-arched back 

 and helm hard a-port. 



His mother is instructing him in the art and 

 mystery of mousing, bringing him a mouse a day, 

 and sitting by and watching while he goes through 

 his mouse-drill, and finally eats up the poor little 

 victim. 



Cats are generally supposed to keep a house free 

 from mice. We have no mice in the house except 

 those they bring in. A rabbit's or hare's foot or a 

 bit of rabbit-fur is a favourite plaything, or a feather. 

 When Tittlebat was a youngster he had a rather 

 large white chicken's wing that he would always carry 

 about with him. One evening lately Patty came 

 runni'ng down the front stairs with (as I thought) her 

 bit of rabbit-fur. She goes up the back-stairs, along 



