nce in her professions.
There was an expression about her tail which, to my mind, meant that she
was insincere and treacherous. The Maltese cat had finished her milk
when the conversation drifted around to the various mistresses of the
cats, and presently someone spoke of Susan. Then the Maltese began to
say things about Susan that made my blood boil. It was not only what she
said but what she insinuated, and, according to her, Susan was one of
the meanest and most contemptible women in the whole United States. I
stood it as long as I could, and then I got up and said to Martha
Washington, 'I think your Maltese friend is needed at her home, and the
sooner she goes the better if she doesn't want to be helped home with a
club.' That was enough. The Maltese, who was doing up her back fur when
I spoke, stopped, looked at me as if she could tear me into pieces, and
then flounced out of the house without saying a word. I understood that
there was an end to her pretence of friendship for me, and that
henceforth I should have an enemy in Susan's house who might, perhaps,
be able to do me a good deal of harm.

[Illustration: "I USED TO FIND OLD BOOTS IN THE YARD."]

[Illustration: "THE SOONER SHE GOES THE BETTER."]

"The next time I called to see Susan the Maltese was in the room, and
she instantly put up her back and tail and swore at me as if I was a
Chinaman on the look out for material for a stolen dinner. 'What can be
the matter with poor pussy?' said Susan. 'She seems to be so terribly
afraid of you all of a sudden. I hope it doesn't mean that you have been
doing something that she doesn't approve of.' I didn't make any reply to
this insinuation, except to say that the cat might perhaps be going mad,
but this didn't help me any with Susan, who was really angry at the idea
that her cat could be capable of going mad.

[Illustration: "POOR PUSSY'S NERVES ARE THOROUGHLY UPSET."]

"The same sort of thing happened every time I went to the house. The cat
was always in the room, and always expressed in the plainest way the
opinion that I was a thief and a murderer, and an enemy of the
temperance society. When I asked her what she meant to do, she would
give me no reply except a fresh oath, or other bad language. Threats had
no effect on her, for she knew that I could not touch her in Susan's
house, and she didn't intend that I should catch her outside of the
house. Nothing was clearer than that the Maltese was bound to make a