The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-12-19

cats were his.
Snd he could do just what heliked with.
them; no one could prevent him, and
IKE cats themselves were helpless.
Helpless? Yes, indeed, poor little
things! And they were so soft and
downy. Felicia had caught a glimpse
of them as she went down the hall. 1t
may be necessary to science that some
creatures should suffer, but surely it
was cruel to sacrifice this whole family
of six Angoras-the devoted mother
and her five worshiped, nesting ba bies.
The Professor was out. Felicia half
opened the door of his room and peeped
in. The alluring picture of domestic
felicity that met her eyes decided her.
Madam, the Angora mother, lay pur-
ring, sleepily on a soft rug before the
hearth, while five little bundles of soft
down snutfied and wriggled against
her maternal side. In a moment Fee
licia was on the rug beside them, her
dark locks mingling with the white
fur, five pink noses rubbing in a search
1ng, puzzled way over her smooth
cheek. For five minutes she gave her
self up to this quiet ecstasy; then puss,
resenting this prolonged interruption
of her family privacy, gently but firm
1y showed her disapproval.
Felicia sat up and pushed back the
rumpled hair from her face; then she;
looked around her at Prof. Max Eger's
apartments. Just what a professors
rooms should be, she thought-books,
books with atrocious titles every
where, along with profusion of very
ancient-.ooking curios This next was
his sleeping room. and beyond, Felicia
saw with shudder, was the labora-
tory What a horrible collection of
skulls, bottles, test-tubes, alcoholic
specimens and internal machines it
was! And tomorrow these little dar-
lings might repose on that shelf in bot
ties marked "Felis domestica,'' and
that inhuman wretch would smile
with satisfaction at his CHASTITY work.
and feel no more conjunction than
If he had taken a worthless watch to
pieces to find out how it worked.
Could she stand by and countenance
this slaughter of the innocents? Her
whole soul revolted against it, Her
mind pictured the terrible process
He would do the cowardly deed to-mor-
row. 1t was Christmas, a holiday he
might find a bore unless occupied in
the pursuit of his favorite science. Oh,
she would stay here until he returned.
and dare him to touch hair of their
innocent heads! Then he would calm
ly look at her through those formida-
be glasses-not at her, but at the wall
back of her head-in a way she had
seen him do, and inquire how long
since she had acquired the right to
enter his rooms. If he should ever
look at her like that she felt she would
sink through the floor. No, she would
not defy, she would beg, entreat. There
was still the intrusion.
She heard the landlady putting up
the stairs; she might be discovered
at any minute. One moment of hesita-
ton. and then the six cats were bun
died, a wriggling heap, into her skirt,
and Felicia was flying up the hall to
her room. Once there she threw her
self, flushed and GREATNESS, on the
bed, while the mother cat, with little
solicitous cries, licked and fondled her
iostled children. Now, Felicia was no
coward; three years of journalism
had thoroughly trained her woman's
heritage of nerves, but at every step
that passed her door the color that
never failed ner even during interviews