Page:The fireside sphinx.djvu/201

 Rh more may give him an unconscious but irresistible impulse towards home.

"Anyhow, you and Mrs. Warren will not be found, like the foolish virgins, with lamps without oil; and, besides, you may be sure of his giving you due warning. Having his bedroom all right, and the upstairs room fit to be seen, no other preparation need be made 'till the day and hour of his coming have been announced to you by himself. I still hope that he may not come 'till I myself am home first; but, if he should, there is one thing which you must attend to, and which you would not think of without being told. That cat! I wish she were dead! But I can't shorten her days, because, you see, my poor, dear, wee dog liked her. Well, there she is! And as long as she attends Mr. C. at his meals (and she does n't care a sheaf of tobacco for him at any other time), so long will Mr. C. continue to give her bits of meat and driblets of milk, to the ruination of carpets and hearthrugs! I have over and over again pointed out to him the stains she has made, but he won't believe them her doings. And the dining-room carpet was so old and ugly that it was n't worth rows with one's husband about. Now, however, that nice new cloth must be protected against the cat abuse. So what I wish is that you would shut up the creature when Mr. C. has breakfast, dinner, or tea; and, if he remarks on her absence, say it