the cat - World eBook Library

THE CAT:
A Sailor
A ship cat loves its home as unswervingly as does
the happier animal whose lot is cast amid gardens
and moonlit walls. To the landsman's prejudiced
eye there is little choice in boats, especially in the
dismal and dirty cargo boats " that sail the wet seas
roun'." They may be " England's pride," but, as
permanent habitations, they seem to lack every-
thing that would appeal to the refined instincts and
restless habits of a cat. Yet Pussy is as faithful
to her " hollow oak " as poets have ever pretended
to be, and will not barter its manifold discomforts
for the pleasant firesides of earth. A very beauti-
ful cat, carried in infancy from some remote vil-
lage in the Apennines, was given as a mascot to
the Italian captain of an oil-tank steamer which
ran between Savona and Point Breeze, Philadelphia.
In the course of time she presented the ship with
a family of kittens, who were less than a month
old when the Philadelphia docks were reached.
Like other sailors, Pussy indulged in some irregu-
larities while on shore; and, as the result of pro-
longed dissipation, she was found to be missing when
the Bayonne was loaded, and ready to depart.
Search was made in vain about the wharves; and
Captain Hugo was compelled, not only to sail
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