One day when I was on mistress’ bed with my kittens, Guy laid his hat down by us, and Topsy went over and lay on the crown of it. It being a soft felt, her weight caused the crown to cave in, but this seemed to suit Topsy all the better. She settled down contentedly in the little round box and began to purr so loudly as to attract the attention of the other kittens. Meow Junior, seeing that Topsy had found such a good thing, concluded to join her; and so one by one they all deserted me, and meandered in the direction of the hat. When I looked up, to my great amusement the five kittens were lying in a circle on the rim with Topsy in the middle, and the hat had the appearance of being trimmed with cats.
In telling this incident I hope I shall not set any one to thinking that kittens would make suitable ornaments instead of the poor unhappy birds that do such melancholy duty on some ladies’ hats.
Thus for many weeks I devoted myself so constantly to my little ones that mistress called me “the good little mother.”
XXV
BREAKING HOME TIES
It was with the greatest pleasure that I gave myself to the care of my babies; and oh, with what pride I watched their progress from day to day, and how very happy I felt when at my call they would cease their playing and come and rest on my bosom. But, sad to tell, to every mother there comes a cruel and relentless day, when her darlings are taken from her. When that day has come and she mourns in her loneliness and sorrow, her only comfort then is the thought that she has so trained her little ones that they will be a pleasure and a joy to the people with whom they live. I know that this is what my dear mother endeavored to do for me, and the same I tried to do for mine.
My kitties were about three months old, when one day Miss Dorothy called. Mistress called her “Mrs. Fogg,” but to me she will ever be only my dear Miss Dorothy.
She had a bunch of delicious English violets at her waist, and as she held me on her lap I became so intoxicated with their fragrance that unwittingly I bit off a few of them. When Miss Dorothy discovered that I liked them she gave me the whole bunch, and, oh! what a feast! They were the first I had had since Aunt Minnie visited us; and by the way I must tell you about that. We cats are very glad when Aunt Minnie comes, because then somebody always sends such beautiful flowers to the house. The last time they happened to be English violets, and, of course, we went up to the vase to look at them and to smell of them. Such beautiful violets! Their fragrance filled the entire room.
After dinner when Guy and Aunt Minnie came into the library, I heard her say “What’s the matter with these violets? Nothing is left of them but the bare stems.”
“I’ll be jiggered,” said Guy. “I don’t know where you’ll find them unless it’s inside of those cats.” Just then the door bell rang and Aunt Minnie’s friend came in. When they told him about the sad fate of the violets he laughed heartily, and said they would stop and get some more on the way to the concert. So I fear that the violets were not intended for our dinner.
But to return to Miss Dorothy; it was a beautiful day, and mistress brought her into the garden where my kittens were gathered around their big saucer. As each one finished he sat down and gave himself a good washing. Then they gave a quite noteworthy performance of acrobatic skill on the gym: some taking possession of the horizontal bar, while others scaled the walls, or ran a race on the edge.