the cat - World eBook Library

THE CAT-
Moumoutte Blanche
I had been long without a cat when Moumoutte
Blanche was brought to me. She lay, a tiny ball
of white fur, on the red carpet, and I lifted her
up very gently with both hands, so that she might
be reassured, and say to herself after the manner
of kittens : " This is a man who understands how
to hold me, who is a friend, and whose caresses I
can venture to receive with condescension ! " Such
a pretty little cat as she was, her baby eyes yellow
and gleaming, her tiny nose rose pink, her fur
deep and soft, warm to the touch, and beautifully
clean. A patch of black on her forehead looked
like a coquettish little bonnet, another on her shoul-
ders, like a cape; her tail was black, her throat
and paws whiter than swan's down. She weighed
nothing, this bundle of nerves, of snowy fur, of
subtle and infinite caprice.
After a time she grew to love us, as a cat loves,
with no docility, but with an unalterable and touch-
ing constancy, which well deserves that I should
hold her memory dear. In the spring, when the
pale March sun warmed the chilly earth, she had
the ever-repeated delight of watching Sulei'ma, the
tortoise, her friend and fellow guest, crawl down
the garden paths. In the lovely May weather she
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