loving and domestic nature, spent all her evenings contentedly by her master's side. This tranquil life had lasted several years when, in an unhappy hour, a widow rented the adjoining house. The cat made incursions over the wall, was received with flattering attentions, and began to spend her days under the gayer roof. These journeys mattered little at first, as the unsuspicious gentleman, who was away at his office from morning until night, was well pleased to have his darling looked after during his absence, and only demanded her prompt appearance at dinner time. Soon, however, Pussy refused to return in the evenings, and, when brought forcibly back, sulked and glowered in corners until she could again escape. The widow aided and abetted her in this unnatural conduct, firmly maintaining that a cat of intelligence had a right to choose her friends and her surroundings. Therefore the deserted plaintiff, wounded in his tenderest feelings, and unable—as in the good old days—to charge his neighbour with bewitching his pet, entered suit against her, and was liberally laughed at for his pains. It is not only in the "Arabian Nights," and in the merciless comedies of France, that the inconstancy of the female heart has moved the world to mirth.
Yet, jest as we may, we know very well that those men and women—few in numbers—who are en-
