CHAPTER IV.
FIDELLE AT PRAYERS.
Mr. Lee was a religious man, accustomed to having morning and eveningdevotions, at which all the family were present. Fidelle had for a longtime made it a point to be in the parlor on such occasions, and oftencaused a smile by the eagerness with which she ran to join them on theirreturn from the table.
One morning, Mrs. Lee was quite ill, and unable to leave her chamber.The family, however, assembled as usual for prayers, and Fidelle amongthem. She seemed instantly to notice that the lady was not in heraccustomed place, and, after an earnest gaze into Minnie's face, startedoff to call her.
Mrs. Lee was quite surprised to see the cat come walking quickly intothe room, up to the side of the sofa where she was lying. There shestopped, and, gazing at her, cried, "Meow! meow!" Then she ran out tothe hall, and part way down the stairs. But finding the lady did notfollow, she returned again, and still more earnestly cried, "Meow!meow!" trying to make her understand that, instead of lying there, sheought to be below, attending prayers.
This she did three times; after which she concluded, perhaps, that shehad better not abstain from the service because the lady did so, and shetherefore quietly took her usual place near Mr. Lee.
It was invariably her custom to remain with her eyes tightly closedwhile the gentleman read the Scriptures; then, when he closed the book,and the family knelt for prayer, she arose, turned over, and sat downagain, which was the nearest approach she could make to imitating them.In this position she remained quietly until the service was concluded,when she at once began to caper and play as usual.
Minnie had sometimes been disposed to smile to see Fidelle sittingupright, with her eyes tightly closed; and Ida acknowledged that thefirst time she saw her looking so demure, as though she understood andappreciated every word that was said, she had to bite her lips to keepfrom laughing outright.
When Mrs. Lee told them what Fidelle had done, her husband was delightedwith this proof of her intelligence. He said her conduct while they wereengaged in devotion was an example to all of them, and wished Poll wouldtake a lesson of her.
With this incident occurring under their own notice, their interest inthe stories was increased, and after tea, Mr. Lee read among others thefollowing:--
"A little black spaniel had five puppies, which were considered too manyfor her to bring up. As, however, they were a rare kind of dog, hermistress was unwilling that any of them should be destroyed; and sheasked the cook whether she thought it would be possible to bring aportion of them up by hand, before the kitchen fire. The cook answeredthat the cat had several kittens, and she had no doubt, if they weretaken away, the puppies might be substituted.
"The cat made no objection, took to them kindly, and gradually all thekittens were taken away, and she nursed the two puppies only.
"Now, the first curious fact was, that the two puppies were in afortnight as active, forward, and playful as kittens would have been.They had the use of their legs, barked, and gamboled about, while theother three nursed by the mother were whining and rolling about like fatslugs.
"The cat gave them her tail to play with; and they were always inmotion. They soon ate meat, and long before the others, they were fit tobe removed. This was done; and the cat became inconsolable. She prowledabout the house, and on the second day of tribulation, fell in with thelittle spaniel, who was nursing the other three puppies.
"'O,' said puss, putting up her back, 'it is you who have stolen mychildren.'
"'No,' replied the spaniel, with a snarl, 'they are my own flesh andblood.'
"'That won't do,' said the cat. 'I'll take my oath before any justiceof the peace, that you have my two puppies.' Thereupon there was adesperate combat, which ended in the defeat of the spaniel; and then thecat walked off proudly with one of the puppies, which she took to herown bed.
"Having deposited this one, she returned, fought again, gained anothervictory, and redeemed another puppy.
"Now, it is very singular that she should have taken only two, theexact number she had been deprived of."
"Isn't that a nice story?" cried Minnie, joyfully clapping her hands.
"I had no idea there were such pleasant things about cats," said Ida,laughing at her cousin's enthusiasm. "Fidelle has risen wonderfully inmy estimation. But don't let me detain you, dear uncle."
"I see here," he said, "a curious account of a cat, published by M.Antoine in France."
"In a French cloister, the hours of meals were announced by the ringingof a bell. A favorite cat belonging to the establishment was accustomed,as soon as she heard the summons, to run quickly to the dining hall,that she might be fed.
"One day it happened that puss was accidentally shut up in a room byherself when the bell rang, and could not therefore obey the summons.Some hours after, she was let out, and instantly ran to the spot wheredinner was always left for her; but no dinner was to be found.
PUSS RINGING FOR HER DINNER. Page 82.]
"In the afternoon, the bell was heard ringing at an unusual hour. Theinmates of the cloister ran quickly to see what was the cause of it,when, to their surprise, they saw the cat clinging to the bell rope,and setting it in motion as well as she was able, in order that shemight have her dinner served up to her."
"I hope they gave her a good one," urged Minnie. "I'm sure she deservedit for being so smart."
"I have no doubt of it," remarked the gentleman, smiling. "Now, here isa story of another French cat."
"It was of a kind known as the Angora variety, a very beautifulcreature, with silvery hair of fine silky texture, generally longest onthe neck, but also long on the tail. Some of them are olive, the colorof the lion; but they are delicate creatures, and of gentledispositions.
"This one belonged to a hotel in Paris, and having noticed that the cookalways left the kitchen upon the ringing of a certain bell, and thusleft the room clear for her to eat the dainties she had been preparing,soon acquired the art of pulling the bell herself.
"This trick she practised for some weeks, in the mean time growing plumpand sleek from her abundance of rich delicacies, until the thievingbecame so extensive that a person was set to watch for the rogue.
"Concealing himself, therefore, with fire-arms, ready to secure thevillain, the man had to wait but a short time before he saw puss stealalong near the wall, where she gently agitated the bell wire.
"Cook obeyed the summons, and left the kitchen, when the cat sprang fromher hiding place, and catching a pigeon, just ready for the oven, in hermouth, ran into the cellar to enjoy her plunder."
This instance of intelligence caused a hearty laugh among the hearers,which had not quite ceased when Mr. Lee said, "I have been told that agarrison of disciplined cats was once kept on the island of Cyprus, forthe purpose of destroying the serpents with which it was infested. Theywere so well trained that they came in to their meals at the sound of abell, and at a similar signal returned in order to the chase, where theywere equally zealous and successful."