GREY-KITTEN
Such a short-legged little cat was surely never seen before! She seemed rather to crawl and glide over the ground than to walk. She had inherited her mother’s disproportionately large hare-like ears, and had a far keener sense of hearing than any of the other kittens. The slightest sound brought her head up with a jerk, her ears directed instantly in the exact direction of the sound, while cunning and deceit flashed into her usually trustful eyes. Hers was a quiet, thoughtful nature, which apparently never waxed very enthusiastic over anything; it was as if she pondered carefully every step she took!
She could sit still for hours at a time, with her tail curled carefully round her neatly gathered paws, and watch the doings of the others. An enormous degree of patience and the ability to wait characterized her nature; they all thought she slept, but it was not so; she saw and heard everything.
She often crept round the foot of the mound and down along the ditch and fence—and whenever she found a little hole in the earth which looked as if it were inhabited, she would sit down and watch, if necessary for hours. This monotonous waiting for game suited her nature perfectly; however bad the state of the ground or of the weather, it made no difference to her—she bore it all with good-natured indifference.
Lying thus in wait was a treat to her. Her sense of hearing was so keen that she found sufficient entertainment in listening to the subterranean rumblings of her prey. Minute linked itself to minute with lightning speed; and although to an onlooker it seemed that nothing in the world was happening, in reality she was experiencing thrills of anticipation all the time.
She was also an expert at catching dragon-flies, although indeed in another manner than brother Big. She could, as it were, hypnotize them down to her. When a dragon-fly was performing acrobatics above her head, she just sat still and stared and stared, until presently the insect, whether attracted by her colouring or by her eyes, came so close that she had only to put out a paw and knock it down.
One evening, while the setting sun bathes the burial-mound in its red splendour, and the giant stones shine as if coated with pink enamel, she creeps out to the field.
The windows of the farm flash with light, and over the white, bulging summer clouds falls a scarlet, claret-bordered veil. Everywhere she goes she hears the munching of grass: horses and cattle are feeding after the day’s exertion....
She peeps to the right; to the left—and listens.