Evening star., 1922-09-10
TransIated From the French
ny WILLIAM l.. MCPHERSON.

y re stretched his hand toward
the door with a gesture of
annoyance. We'll, Jeanne!
Are you coming?'
Rut she held back. 1t was hard for
her to leave her cat, for in her wom-
ans heart. having no children. sne
lavished on this animal all the treas
ures of maternal affection.
I'VE are going to miss the train II
you keep that up!
She tore herself away. 1t was the
first time that they were leaving the
cat alone in the house for a day ana
night. Having been invited to wed
ding, a real celebration in their very
modest life. they had not been able
to find anybody in the neighborhood
to look after their humble little
dwelling. hidden in its little garden
and far from the city.
Poor Ki-ki. Nothing to eat this
evening, All alone until tomorrow
morning"
The cat, excited by petting. her eyes
shining and her tail shaping like an
adder's. fidgeted in her mistress arms.
becoming as stiff and angular as she
could be soft and supple when in
good humor.
Finally the owner dropped the re-
sistins beast. While her husband
shrugged his shoulders furiously. she
called from the doorstep with child
ish ingenuousness:
"Au revoir. Ki-ki. Take care Of the
house, dearest
You are foolish" the young man
mumbled, dragging her away. DO
cats guard houses? A dog. certainly.
A dog is at least good for something.
But a cat"
And their daily dispute was re-
newed as they went on their way.
But the door was shut. They had
both disappeared.
THE cat. delivered from her couple
of unceremonius servitors, seated
herself in the middle Of the dining
room. She licked her coat care
fully, to purify her stripes and spots
from contact with unwelcome hands.
Was 1t not enough already, in this
hot weather. to be compelled to wear
her heavy fur?
Surfeited by the liver which she
had just eaten, she was filled with in
difference and contempt. dreaming OF
slumber and digestion in some SOFT
shady and quiet corner.
Her toilet finished. she looked about
and, finding nothing to suit her, pass
ed with a slow and royal gait into
the next room, which was the bed
chamber.
They left all the doors open so that
she could move about freely. She found
that very natural. She had not yet
perceived that the house was her
metically sealed, and that she could
not go to the garden If she wanted to.
For the present, the freshness of
the darkened home. all the shutters
being closed, pleased her. After
several hypocritical detours. for even
in solitude a cat cannot refrain from
playing a comedy. she installed her
self in the only. big armchair. She
slowly selected her pose. Her black
and gray streaks became concentric.
following the cylinder into which she
had transformed her body. In the
shadow she became a curled serpent.
Silence reigned. She decided to go
to sleep. She grew sleepy. She fell
asleep.
The power Of slumber in animals is
something incommensurable. A de-
licious repose. without any diagree-
able Starts door which bangs,
voices which speak. the useless and
annoying babel of eternal human
conversation.
When she awoke the obscurity was
denser. No one about? The empti-
ness and silence of the house made
an impression on her. Why were
there no humans there? A change
in the habits Of every day-how dis
agreeable, or, better still. how scan
dalous!
with a contemptuous rancor she
looked through all the dark rooms
and then decided to go and amuse
herself in the garden while waiting
for them. She sensed the twilight
outside, the ancestral hunting hour.
the hour Of the Jungle.
Before the closed door scandal
turned into anguish. Locked inf All
alone?
Her agitation suddenly yielded to
perfect immobflity. Crouching
down, she made her body look like
. turtle with . gray shell. Posted
bafasA thA door. she Esitsd she