the cat - World eBook Library

Punchinello and the Cat
THE CAT
Punchinello lay on the floor in a corner of
the nursery. His little master had gone to school,
and deserted him.
The cat slipped in through a half-open door.
She held in her mouth a ball of cotton which she had
carried carefully upstairs, but which she dropped
as soon as she caught sight of Punchinello.
" What is that ? " she asked herself uneasily, and
proceeded to make a stealthy tour of the room,
feigning indifference, but creeping ever closer and
closer to the fantastic little figure on the floor. He
lay quiet, but she was none the less suspicious of
his intentions. Crouching and quivering, she
glared at him through half-shut eyes, as though
seeking to measure his strength before challenging
him with the war-cry of her race.
— Ffff!
Punchinello, wholly unconcerned, never so much
as winked.
A second and a louder challenge.
— Fffffffff!
Punchinello dozed tranquilly.
Then from the cat's little body came a sound,
deep and terrible, like the rumbling of far-off
thunder.
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