The human people and the cat people had their breakfast at the same time. The human people had theirs in the dining-room, and the cat people had theirs in the pantry. The cat people always had very good meals; bread and milk, and fish twice a week, and sometimes meat and potatoes.
"What's the use of my bothering to catch mice?" Jazbury often said. "I get all I want to eat anyway."
And his aunt would answer, "You ought to feel grateful enough for your good meals to want to catch mice for people."
But Jazbury paid little attention to such advice. All he cared for was having a good time and play about, and if mice had to be caught he left it to his mother and Aunt Tabby to do it.
The cat people always had very good meals
II
Jazbury's best friend was a little white kitten named Fluffy. Fluffy lived in the house next door to Jazbury's.
At the other side of Jazbury's house was an open lot. The gentlemen cats of the neighbourhood had a club that met in this lot every night. It was a singing club, but sometimes the cats quarrelled among themselves, and were very noisy. Mother Bunch and Aunt Tabby said they wished the cats would meet some other place; but Jazbury liked to hear them. He wished he were old enough to belong to the club, and sing and fight, and stay out all night the way they did. But he was still only a soft, playful little kitten, who had not even caught his first mouse as yet.
Once Jazbury had climbed up on the fence, and jumped over into the lot. There he had prowled about among the weeds, and chased grasshoppers, and shiny black crickets. It was great fun.