God knows how, and gleaming upon her
with its great green eyes, and a malignant, brownie expression of
countenance.

Various deputations had indeed, from time to time, arrived at the
Corporal's cottage, requesting the death, expulsion, or perpetual
imprisonment of the favourite. But the stout Corporal received them
grimly, and dismissed them gruffly; and the cat still went on waxing
in size and wickedness, and baffling, as if inspired by the devil, the
various gins and traps set for its destruction. But never, perhaps, was
there a greater disturbance and perturbation in the little hamlet, than
when, some three weeks since, the Corporal's cat was known to be brought
to bed, and safely delivered of a numerous offspring. The village saw
itself overrun with a race and a perpetuity of Corporal's cats! Perhaps,
too, their teacher growing more expert by practice, the descendants
might attain to even greater accomplishment than their nefarious
progenitor. No longer did the faint hope of being delivered from their
tormentor by an untimely or even natural death, occur to the harassed
Grassdalians. Death was an incident natural to one cat, however
vivacious, but here was a dynasty of cats! Principes mortales,
respublica eterna!

Now the Corporal loved this creature better, yes better than any thing
in the world, except travelling and board-wages; and he was sorely
perplexed in his mind how he should be able to dispose of her safely in
his absence. He was aware of the general enmity she had inspired, and
trembled to anticipate its probable result, when he was no longer by to
afford her shelter and protection. The Squire had, indeed, offered her
an asylum at the manor-house; but the Squire's cook was the cat's most
embittered enemy; and who can answer for the peaceable behaviour of
his cook? The Corporal, therefore, with a reluctant sigh, renounced the
friendly offer, and after lying awake three nights, and turning over in
his own mind the characters, consciences, and capabilities of all his
neighbours, he came at last to the conviction that there was no one with
whom he could so safely entrust his cat as Peter Dealtry. It is true,
as we said before, that Peter was no lover of cats, and the task of
persuading him to afford board and lodging to a cat, of all cats the
most odious and malignant, was therefore no easy matter. But to a man of
the world, what intrigue is impossible?

The finest diplomatist in Europe might have taken a