PUSS AND THE PARTRIDGE.
A few days later, as Minnie sat watching Fidelle washing herself,
licking her paws, and then putting them on her face and ears, her father
drove into the yard, accompanied by a niece, who had come to make them a
long visit.
Ida Morris was the daughter of Mr. Lee's only sister. She was a lovely
girl of fourteen, having long been the companion and especial charge of
her widowed mother.
Mrs. Morris had now gone to Europe with her son, who was an invalid, and
Ida had come to stay at her uncle's until their return.
Minnie had not seen her cousin for a year; but she knew from her parents
that Ida was frank and good tempered, and very fond of pets.
When she heard the carriage, therefore, she ran joyfully to meet and
welcome her visitor.
Ida had grown very tall within the year, and this afternoon was
exceedingly sad from the parting with her mother and brother, the latter
of whom she might never see again; but when she felt Minnie's soft hand
pressed so lovingly in her own, and heard the eager tones of joy at her
arrival, she felt comforted.
Wiping her tear-dimmed eyes, she said, "Uncle George has been telling me
about your pets; and you, dear Minnie, shall be mine."
Fidelle presently came and jumped in Ida's lap, to the surprise of Mrs.
Lee and Minnie.
"Why, here is the beautiful cat I saw last year," cried the young girl;
"can it be possible that she remembers me? You know I petted her a great
deal."
"I have no doubt that is the case," answered her aunt; "otherwise I
should be at a loss to account for her sudden fondness. She is usually
very shy with strangers."
Ida stroked the soft, silky hair, and seemed almost as much in love with
the puss as Minnie herself was, while Fidelle purred and purred, and
lovingly licked the hand that fondled her.
"Oh, cousin!" cried Minnie, her cheeks glowing with animation, "we do
have such good times reading stories about birds and animals. We are
reading about the cat now. Father says there is something in his books
about every one of my pets."
"I hope I may be a listener, then."
"Oh, yes, indeed! While you are here, you are to be my ownty, downty
sister, and I shall try to make you happy."
Ida kissed her; then they adjourned to the dining hall, where they had
been summoned to tea. Fidelle, knowing she was not allowed there at meal
times, reluctantly remained behind.
In the evening, when the candles were lighted, Minnie begged her father
to go on with the stories, to which he willingly consented; but first he
said,--
"I suppose you know, Minnie, that the cat belongs to the same family as
the lion, the tiger, the panther, the leopard, and several other wild
animals. The tiger and cat are very similar in form and feature; they
have the same rounded head and pointed ears; the long, lithe body,
covered with fine, silky hair, often beautifully marked; the silent,
stealthy step, occasioned by treading on the fleshy ball of the foot;
the same sharp claws; the same large, lustrous eyes, capable, from the
expansive power of the pupil, of seeing in the dark; the whiskered lip;
the carnivorous teeth; and a tongue covered with bony prickers.
"In many of their habits, too, they are alike. In their natural state,
they sleep a great part of the time, only rousing themselves when
pressed by hunger. Then they are alike in lying in wait for their prey,
not hunting it, like the wolf and dog; but after watching patiently for
it, as I have often seen Fidelle watch for a mouse, they steal along
with their supple joints and cushioned feet till within springing
distance of their victims, when they dart upon them with an angry growl.
"Though cats are very plenty now, they were not always so. The Egyptians
venerated cats, as a type of one of their gods. To slay a cat was death
by law. When a cat died, the family to which it belonged mourned as for
a child. It was carried to a consecrated house, embalmed, and wrapped in
linen, and then buried with religious rites, at Bulastes, a city of
Lower Egypt, being placed in a sepulchre near the altar of the principal
temple.
"The Mohammedans have an extraordinary reverence for them; and a
traveller, of whom I once read, saw at Damascus a hospital for cats,
which was a large building walled around, and said to be full of them.
"This singular institution, well supported by public alms, originated in
the fact that Mahomet brought a cat to Damascus, which he kept carefully
in the sleeve of his gown, and fed with his own hands. He even preferred
cutting off the sleeve of his robe, rather than to disturb the repose
of his favorite, who had fallen asleep in it.
"I remember a curious story, which is told of Cambyses, a Persian
general, who conquered Thebes by placing in front of the Persian army a
corps of cats, giving to each of his soldiers, employed in the attack,
instead of a buckler a live cat, and other animals venerated by the
Egyptians.
"Not daring to advance upon these animals, the Theban garrison fell, as
the wily Persian commander anticipated, an unresisting prey to his
stratagem."
"And do you remember," said Mrs. Lee, to her husband, "that Moncrieff
says an insult offered a cat by a Roman was the cause of an insurrection
among the Egyptians?"
"Yes, and the same writer states that even after death, these animals
were held so sacred, that they were often deposited in the niches of
the catacombs. If they were killed, even by accident, the murderer was
given up to the rabble to be buffeted to death.
"Now, Minnie, that I have made so long a speech, for your benefit, on
the high esteem with which cats have been regarded, I will read you a
most remarkable instance of the sagacity of one of them."
"In the summer of 1800, a physician of Lyons was summoned to court, and
requested to inquire into a murder that had been committed on a woman in
that city. He accordingly went to the residence of the deceased, where
he found her extended on the floor, and weltering in her blood.
"A large white cat was mounted on the cornice of the cupboard, at the
farther end of the apartment, where he seemed to have taken refuge. He
sat motionless, with his eyes fixed on the corpse, his attitude and
looks expressing horror and affright.
"The next morning the room was filled with officers and soldiers; but
still the cat remained exactly in the same position, entirely
undisturbed by the clattering of the soldiers' arms, or the loud
conversation of the company.
"But as soon as the suspected persons were brought in, his eyes glared
with fury, his hair bristled, he darted into the middle of the
apartment, where he stopped for a moment to gaze at them, and then
precipitately retreated. This he repeated three times, to the amazement
of the spectators.
"The assassins returned his gaze with terror. They who had but a moment
before been so bold, now became confused; and all their wicked
effrontery left them. They were condemned, and afterwards acknowledged
that, in the presence of the cat, they, for the first time during the
whole course of the horrid business, felt their courage forsake them."
"That was an awful story," remarked Mrs. Lee, having watched Minnie's
shudder of horror. "I hope you have something more lively."
"Yes, here is an account of an attachment which was formed between a cat
and a dog. The story is quite amusing."
"Mr. Weuzel, a writer on natural history, gives an account of a cat and
dog, which became so attached to each other that they would never
willingly be asunder. Whenever the dog got any choice morsel, he was
sure to divide it with his whiskered friend. They always ate sociably
out of one plate, slept in the same bed, and daily walked out together.
"Wishing," continues Mr. Weuzel, "to put their friendship to the proof,
I one day took the cat by herself into my room, while I had the dog
guarded in another apartment. I entertained the cat in a most sumptuous
manner, wishing to see what sort of a meal she would make without her
friend.
"She enjoyed the treat with great glee, and seemed to have entirely
forgotten her table companion. I had had a partridge for dinner, half of
which I intended to keep for my supper; my wife covered it with a plate,
and put it in a cupboard, the door of which she did not lock.
"The cat left the room, and I walked out on business, my wife sitting at
work in an adjoining apartment. When I returned, she related to me the
following:--
"The cat, having hastily left the dining room, went to the dog, and
mewed uncommonly loud, and in different tones of voice, which the dog
from time to time answered with a short bark. Then they both went to the
door of the room where the cat had dined, and waited till it was opened.
One of my children opened the door, and the two friends entered the
apartment. The mewing of the cat excited my wife's attention. She rose
from her seat, and stepped softly up to the door, which stood ajar, to
observe what was going on.
"The cat led the dog at once to the cupboard which contained the
partridge, pushed off the plate which covered it, and taking out my
intended supper, laid it before her canine friend, who devoured it
greedily. No doubt the cat, by her mewing, had made him understand what
an excellent meal she had made, and how sorry she was that he had not
participated in it; but at the same time had told him there was
something left for him in the cupboard, and persuaded him to follow her
there.
"Since that time, I have paid particular attention to these animals, and
am convinced that they communicate to each other whatever seems
interesting to either."