Produced by Adam Buchbinder, Mark Young and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
book was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Print project.)
[Illustration: "DAISY." (FROM THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH.)]
Daisy
_The Autobiography of a Cat_
BY
MIRANDA ELIOT SWAN
Boston
NOYES BROTHERS
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY NOYES BROTHERS.
Norwood Press
J.S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
This little story of one cat's life has been written during the
intervals of a long and painful illness, when I missed the love and
sympathy of my little four-footed friend of eighteen years, now, alas!
nothing but a memory. Indeed, so vividly did his spirit speak to me,
that I readily acknowledge him the author of this book, being myself his
amanuensis.
From my earliest childhood the love of animals, particularly cats, has
been inherent with me. One tale of cruelty, heard by me when a child,
distressed me and made me ill, and nightly the panorama of the
disgusting crime would haunt my pillow. But I never regret the suffering
it caused me, for it taught me my duty to our dumb friends so dependent
on us.
If the little stories in this book touch the hearts of its readers as
that story touched mine, it will indeed have accomplished its mission.
Just such stories are needed to create interest in the many societies
now forming in aid of dumb animals.
There are cases where one must not spare the knife, even though our
tenderest and most sensitive feelings recoil, for the cure will be sure.
There are crimes perpetrated every day, in the name of Science, that
need just such stories to expose their iniquity. For I believe ignorance
is the cause of cruelty in many instances, and a little story told
attractively, where retribution follows the deed, will have more effect
than reproof. I do not believe there are many hearts so callous, that a
little anecdote of cruelty to these helpless creatures will not touch
them.
There are many who will read this book who have lost dear little pets,
and I would say to them that the dear Father has them all in his care.
In the boundless and beautiful fields of Paradise they will find the
dear little friends they have lost waiting for them.
I trust my readers will pardon the many imperfections of this little
book, believing that an earnest wish to help our dumb animals is my
heart's desire.
MIRANDA ELIOT SWAN.
BOSTON,
December 11, 1899.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I PAGE
EARLY DAYS 1