A CAT'S VICTORY

New Zealand Tablet, 2 September 1909, Page 35

A CAT'S VICTORY

The mastery of herself which a cat shows when, having been caught in a position from where there is no escape, she calmly sits down- to face out the threats of a dog, is a marvellous thing. Everybody has seen a kitten on the street doorstep attacked by a dog ten times her size, as apparently self-possessed as if she were in her "mistress's lap. If she turns tail and* runs down the street, she is lost : the dog will have a sure advantage of. her. Even • as it is, if he could get up courage enough to seize her on the spot he would be able to make short work of her. ' You dare not touch me and you know it,' is what her position tells the dog. But she is intensely on herguard, in spite of her air of perfect content. Her legs, con- - cealed under her fur, are ready for a spring; her claws are unsheathed, her eyes never move for an instant from the dog; as he bounds wildly from side to side, barking with comical fury, those glittering eyes of hers follow himwith the keenest scrutiny. If he plucks up his courage to grab her, she is ready: she will sell her life dearly. She is watching her chance, and she does not miss it. The dog tries Fabian tactics, and withdraws a few feet, settling down upon his iorepaws, growling ferociously as he does so. Just then the sound of a dog's bark in the next street attracts his eyes and ears for a moment, and, when he looks bade, the kitten is gone ! He looks down the street and starts wildly in that direction, and reaches a high board fence just as a cat's tail — a monstrous tail for such a little cat — is vanishing over the top of it. He is beaten : - the oat showed not only more courage than he had, but a great deal more generalship,