Page:Pain--Stories in the dark.djvu/195

THE GRAY CAT know that it was the negro who took that little image, though I believe it was. Anyhow, how did the negro get away at that hour of the morning absolutely unobserved? Negroes are not so common in London that they can walk about without being noticed; yet not one trace of him was ever found, and equally mysterious is the disappearance of the Gray Cat. It was such an extraordinary brute, and the description of it was so widely circulated that it would have seemed almost certain we should hear of it again. Well, we've not heard.'

We discussed the police theory for some little time, and something which he happened to say led me to exclaim:

'Really! Do you mean to say that the Gray Cat actually was the negro?'

'No,' he replied, 'not exactly that, but something near it. Cats are strange animals, anyhow, needn't remind you of their connection with certain old religions 191