the cat - World eBook Library

THE CAT;
and, in these hundred years, English writers have
at last learned to value at their utmost worth the
qualities which so long repelled enthusiasm. They
have much to say about the cat's beauty; but they
grow eloquent over her love of liberty, her manifest
reserves, her contemptuous serenity of bearing.
They describe with delight her nocturnal wander-
ings, her human interest in her own comfort, the
calmness with which she permits herself to be
waited upon, and her steadfast refusal to bend her
will to the capricious demands of humanity. They
have discovered that she is the most charming of
play-fellows, the most soothing of companions ; and
that the friendship which is hard to win and hard
to hold is worth at least as much as the friendship
which is given for the asking.
I have laboured con amore to pursue the vicissi-
tudes and the triumphs of the cat, as set forth in
French and English letters. I have tracked her
soft footprints along quiet paths and broad highways.
I offer the fruits of my toil to all who
share my deference for the most self-respecting,
my admiration for the most charming, my love for
the most lovable of beasts.
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