rnfully rejected. The 'Lost and Found' columns of the papers were
the only ones of interest to Jap, but he had noticed and saved a
clipping about 'breeding for fur.' This was stuck on the wall of his
den, and under its influence he set about what seemed a cruel
experiment with the Slum Cat. First, he soaked her dirty fur with stuff
to kill the two or three kinds of creepers she wore; and, when it had
done its work, he washed her thoroughly in soap and warm water, in
spite of her teeth, claws, and yowls. Kitty was savagely indignant, but
a warm and happy glow spread over her as she dried off in a cage near
the stove, and her fur began to fluff out with wonderful softness and
whiteness. Jap and his assistant were much pleased with the result, and
Kitty ought to have been. But this was preparatory: now for the
experiment. "Nothing is so good for growing fur as plenty of oily food
and continued exposure to cold weather," said the clipping. Winter was
at hand, and Jap Malee put Kitty's cage out in the yard, protected only
from the rain and the direct wind, and fed her with all the oil-cake
and fish-heads she could eat. In a week a change began to show. She was
rapidly getting fat and sleek--she had nothing to do but get fat and
dress her fur. Her cage was kept clean, and nature responded to the
chill weather and the oily food by making Kitty's coat thicker and
glossier every day, so that by midwinter she was an unusually beautiful
Cat in the fullest and finest of fur, with markings that were at least
a rarity. Jap was much pleased with the result of the experiment, and
as a very little success had a wonderful effect on him, he began to
dream of the paths of glory. Why not send the Slum Cat to the show now
coming on? The failure of the year before made him more careful as to
details. "'T won't do, ye kneow, Sammy, to henter 'er as a tramp Cat,
ye kneow," he observed to his help; "but it kin be arranged to suit the
Knickerbockers. Nothink like a good noime, ye kneow. Ye see now it had
orter be 'Royal' somethink or other--nothink goes with the
Knickerbockers like 'Royal' anythink. Now 'Royal Dick,' or 'Royal Sam,'
'ow's that? But 'owld on; them's Tom names. Oi say, Sammy, wot's the
noime of that island where ye wuz born?"

"Analostan Island, sah, was my native vicinity, sah."

"Oi say, now, that's good, ye kneow. 'Royal Analostan,' by Jove! The
onliest pedigreed 'Royal Analostan' in the 'ole sheow, ye kneow. Ain't
that foine?"