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THE ADVENTURES OF A CAT
AND A FINE CAT TOO!
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A LADY.]
THE ADVENTURES OF A CAT
AND A FINE CAT TOO!
By ALFRED ELWES,
AUTHOR OF 'THE ADVENTURES OF A BEAR,'
'THE ADVENTURES OF A DOG,' ETC.
With Eight Illustrations by Harrison Weir.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
ADDEY AND CO., HENRIETTA STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLVII.
PRINTED BY
JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET,
LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
PREFACE.
In selecting the biography of another animal from the Archives of
Caneville, for the entertainment of a very different race, I thought I
could not do better than fix upon "The Cat;" and as the celebrated Miss
Minette Gattina, the historian of poor Job, had bequeathed some of her
own memoirs to her native City, furnished, too, with an Introduction by
herself, I at once seized upon the materials thus afforded me, and
converted them into their present form. I know not whether they will
enjoy the same favour which the Public has deigned to accord to the
veracious story of "A Bear," or the simple "Adventures of a Dog." Time
will show whether these true memoirs will be as attractive to youthful
readers as the other tales of the feline race, from time immemorial such
standard favourites; whether they will have even a chance of success,
after the story of that strong-minded Puss, who trod down the ignorant,
and made her own and master's fortune in a pair of top-boots; or that
other famous tabby,[1] so intimately associated with City annals and the
name of Whittington, whose powers of leading her proprietor to wealth
were no less remarkable.
I count as but of little moment the story of the "White Cat;" for though
it often charmed me in my days of romance, when the world seemed all
bright and beautiful, and the Golden Age appeared no marvel, I have been
since angry with myself at my admiration, as though charmed under false
pretences, seeing that the said "White Cat" was no Puss after all, but a
very free and easy young lady in disguise.
My Caneville Pussy is at least a true one. From the respect in which she
appears to have been held in her place of birth, and from the attention
which seems to have been bestowed upon her by most of the great animals
of Caneville, there is every reason to believe that the scenes she
describes were real; for it was a weakness of the Dons in that famous
City only to grant favour where it was merited, and never to associate
with those whose moral character was not above suspicion.
With these preliminary remarks, I leave Miss Minette to tell her own
story. That no one was more capable of doing so may be judged from the
fact that it was a customary thing with her to relate it to a crowd of
admiring listeners, whom the fame of her beauty, adventures, and with
attracted to her dwelling; and though the comments which were made and
the questions asked by one or other of the auditory, made the narration
on such occasions a rather lengthy one, the written memoirs, from which
this tale has been translated, may be considered the pith, the marrow,
as it were, of her "household narrative."