The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen

by Elizabeth Von Arnim

'You mean it ran away?'

'No, it walked on quite deliberately. But the tail not being made of human flesh and blood there was naturally nothing to pull.'

'Beginning from left to right, we have in the first a representation of the entry of King Waldemar I. into Rügen,' said the guide.

'But the most extraordinary thing about it happened one day when she put a saucer of cream on the floor for it. She had thought it all over in the night, and had come to the conclusion that as no ghost would lap cream and no real cat be able to help lapping it this would provide her with a decisive proof one way or the other. The cat came, saw the cream, and immediately lapped it up. My friend was so pleased, because of course one likes real cats best——'

'The second represents the introduction of Christianity into the island,' said the guide.

'—and when it had done, and the saucer was empty, she went over to it——'

'The third represents the laying of the foundation stone of the church at Vilmnitz,' said the guide.

'—and what do you think happened? She walked straight through it.'

'Through what?' I asked, profoundly interested. 'The cream, or the cat?'

'Ah, that was what was so marvellous. She walked right through the body of the cat. Now what had become of the cream?'