the cat - World eBook Library

=THE CAT
can see him now, standing on the sill, looking about
at the sky, as if he were thinking whether it were
worth while to take an umbrella, until he was near
having his tail shut in.
His friendship was constant rather than demon-
strative. When we returned from an absence of
nearly two years, Calvin welcomed us with evident
pleasure, but showed his satisfaction rather by
tranquil happiness than by fuming about. He
had the faculty of making us glad to get home.
It was his constancy that was so attractive. He
liked companionship, but he wouldn't be petted, or
fussed over, or sit in any one's lap a moment; he
always extricated himself from such familiarity
with dignity, and with no show of temper. If
there was any petting to be done, however, he
chose to do it. Often he would sit looking at me,
and then, moved by a delicate affection, come and
pull at my coat and sleeve until he could touch
my face with his nose, and then go away contented.
He had a habit of coming to my study in the
morning, sitting quietly by my side or on the table
for hours, watching the pen run over the paper,
occasionally swinging his tail round for a blotter,
and then going to sleep among the papers by the
inkstand. Or, more rarely, he would watch the
writing from a perch on my shoulder. Writing
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