In addition to her bodily virtues she had tall, slim legs, which, when necessary, enabled her to escape from the swiftest opponent by sheer speed.
She was still quite young when Box one day surprised her in the middle of the field; but, thanks to her speed, she saved herself at the last moment by scrambling up on a straw thatch, her mouth extended and the water running down her red tongue. Had there been a man on the scene he would have said that it was the first time he had seen a cat sweat!
Her cunning, flame-coloured eyes are seldom really open; she usually goes about with them screwed up, as if desiring to conceal their lowering, deceitful glance.
She is always to be seen sneaking round stones and molehills, and likes jumping out suddenly and unexpectedly. When the others play puss-in-the-corner, she prefers to lie in ambush and spring upon the nearest from behind, knock him down, and maul him about.
She beats all the others in cunning, and they do not like her to be near when they are eating; they know from experience her extraordinary skill in stealing.
On the day Mother Grey Puss brought home the herrings, each kitten was apportioned a lump of the delicious food. Big, who had received the head, sat a little apart from the others, nibbling it thoughtfully.
There was still a piece of the jaw left; it lay just in front of him, as with closed eyes he swallowed blissfully a tasty mouthful. When he opened his eyes again the herring jaw was no longer there—and a red tail-tip vanished silently behind the nearest boulder.
Nature, as a rule, equips each of her creatures generously with at least one special talent; and, provided only it uses that talent, the struggle for life is an easy one.
And Red’s talent was—thieving!
One can never take her by surprise: she possesses extraordinary decision of character, coupled with extreme cautiousness; and she never resorts to force until her prey is at her mercy. Her daily struggle for food and her constant intercourse with her talented brothers, whose highly specialized skill in trapping was so much superior to her own, have developed her inbred tendency to steal, whenever her special characteristics make it possible.