ILLUSTRATIONS

By Adolph Birkenruth

[Loki]
[The milk ran down the creases to the floor]
[She used to stand on her hind legs and look at the painting]
[Out of that dog's way, at any rate]
[Auntie May took me across her shoulder]
[I played with shavings for about an hour]
[A black cat brings good luck to a theatre]
[I did not want to see any one of them again]
[Mistigris used to lie in wait for me]
['I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,' she said]
[That boy was rough and played experiments with him]
[She married Mr. Fox in less than a month]

THE CAT

CHAPTER I

THE NURSERY

I first saw the light—at least I did not exactly see the light, for I was blind, so they tell me, for about a week after I was born—on the twenty-third of April 19—. There were five of us, three boys and two girls. Our mother was a pure-blooded Persian; so was our father, and it was, I believe, considered by Them a very good match. They arrange all our matches for us in this country, and indeed manage most of our affairs, but then it must be remembered that we are strangers, as the title Persian denotes. Moreover, we belong to that division of the race that is called 'Blue Smokes,' which means, not that our fur is blue, for that would be ugly and loud, but that if you part it and look carefully at the roots you will see that it is exactly the shade of blue that smoke is when you get a lot of it together. Papa's name is 'Blue Boy II.,' and he is excessively handsome, and has taken prizes at cat-shows all over the country. His mistress, Miss Goddard, who lives at West Dulwich, is always travelling about with him to show him, and mother is very proud of that.