Page:The Book of Cats.djvu/73

Rh I find a writer upon Cats who speaks thus In their praise:—

"It has been said that the Cat is one of those animals which has made the least return to man for his trouble by its services; but it is certain that it renders very essential service to man."

And another says:—

"Authors seem to delight in exaggerating the good qualities of the Dog, while they depreciate those of the Cat; the latter, however, is not less useful, and certainly less mischievous, than the former."

Indeed, it would be unfair not to state that Pussy has had many able defenders, who have argued her case in verse as well as prose; for example, in Edmond Moore's fable of "The Farmer, the Spaniel and the Cat," the Spaniel, when Puss drew near to eat some of the fragments of a feast, repelled her, saying she does nothing to merit being fed, etc.:—

'I own' (with meekness Puss replied) 'Superior merit on your side; Nor does my breast with envy swell To find it recompens'd so well. Yet I, in what my nature can, Contribute to the good of man. Whose claws destroy the pilf'ring mouse? Who drives the vermin from the house?