ff jealousy, hatred, and malice in a
sprawling, yelling combat on a flat roof. All cats fight, and all keep
themselves more or less in training while they are young. Your cat may
be the acknowledged lightweight champion of his district--a Griffo of
the feline ring!

Just think how much more he gets out of his life than you do out of
yours--what a hurricane of fighting and lovemaking his life is--and
blush for yourself. You have had one little love-affair, and never had a
good, all-out fight in your life!

And the sport they have, too! As they get older and retire from the ring
they go in for sport more systematically; the suburban backyards, that
are to us but dullness indescribable, are to them hunting-grounds and
trysting-places where they may have more gallant adventure than ever had
King Arthur's knights or Robin Hood's merry men.

Grimalkin decides to kill a canary in a neighbouring verandah. Consider
the fascination of it--the stealthy reconnaissance from the top of the
fence; the care to avoid waking the house-dog, the noiseless approach
and the hurried dash, and the fierce clawing at the fluttering bird till
its mangled body is dragged through the bars of the cage; the exultant
retreat with the spoil; the growling over the feast that follows. Not
the least entertaining part of it is the demure satisfaction of arriving
home in time for breakfast and hearing the house-mistress say: "Tom must
be sick; he seems to have no appetite."

It is always levelled as a reproach against cats that they are more fond
of their home than of the people in it. Naturally, the cat doesn't like
to leave his country, the land where all his friends are, and where he
knows every landmark. Exiled in a strange land, he would have to learn a
new geography, to exploit another tribe of dogs, to fight and make love
to an entirely new nation of cats. Life isn't long enough for that sort
of thing. So, when the family moves, the cat, if allowed, will stay at
the old house and attach himself to the new tenants. He will give them
the privilege of boarding him while he enjoys life in his own way. He
is not going to sacrifice his whole career for the doubtful reward which
fidelity to his old master or mistress might bring.

SITTING IN JUDGMENT

The show ring was a circular enclosure of about four acres, with a
spiked batten fence round it, and a listless crowd of back-country
settlers propped along the fence. Behind them were the sheds