“The charge of the Light Brigade,” said Guy, coming down the stairs behind Toddy.
“No, it’s the Battle of Waterloo,” replied mistress.
With such playful companions as these, you can imagine what delightful times I have had.
IX
A HAPPY HOME
Every morning after breakfast mistress reads in a book called the “Bible,” and when she closes it, they both kneel down in the bay window while she talks to the chair. Sometimes when the sun shines so nice and warm upon her back, I just jump up there and have a nice purr, which always makes Guy laugh.
Some of the stories they have read in the Bible were about men and women and children and goats and sheep and cattle. I have listened breathlessly many times for something about cats, but so far not one has been mentioned. But perhaps those things all happened before there were any cats. One time the story was about an old man who died leaving six daughters[1] and they were afraid that because they had no big brothers they would not get their share. So they went to Moses, their captain, and asked him about it, and he said that they should have their share just the same as if they were sons, instead of daughters. After the story was finished mistress asked Guy, as she usually did, what that meant, and what he had learned from it. He studied for quite a while before he answered her, then he said, “Well, I guess that means women’s rights.”
Another time they were reading about a very great king who sat on a throne, and a queen from another country who had heard about his wonderful wisdom came to ask him a very hard question to see whether what she had heard was true.[2]
“What was the question she asked?” said Guy, after the reading was finished.
“I don’t know,” said mistress; “the Bible does not tell us what it was.”
“I think I know what it was,” said he. “She asked him ‘who made God?’”