Chapter I: Preface

A cat is of all animals the most difficult to know; it is so intimate, but so detached; so dependent on human beings for its comfort, so loftily indifferent to their wishes. It requires one who has lived with cats and seen their idiosyncrasies, their whims and their strong individuality, to write about them, and in the present author they have found a spokeswoman who knows them through and through. A sense of humour is necessary in dealing with the subject--and the humour is not lacking. Loki is a real cat in more senses than one, and those who follow his life story will find themselves better able to understand their own cats than they have ever been before.

THE EDITOR.

CONTENTS

I. THE NURSERY

II. ONE LESS THAN FIVE

III. TO LAP OR NOT TO LAP

IV. THE SCHOOLROOM

V. ONE LESS THAN FOUR

VI. THE FIRST JOURNEY

VII. AN INVALID

VIII. A MAN WHO HATED ME

IX. MY FIRST MOUSE

X. THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

XI. THE SURPRISE THAT FELL FLAT

XII. FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

XIII. CATAPUK

XIV. 'POOSH!'

XV. THE BLACK COMMON CAT

XVI. THE BLACK CAT BRINGS MEASLES

XVII. A WEDDING IN THE HOUSE

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY ADOLPH BIRKENRUTH

Loki

The milk ran down the creases to the floor

She used to stand on her hind legs and look at the painting

Out of that dog's way, at any rate

Auntie May took me across her shoulder

I played with shavings for about an hour

A black cat brings good luck to a theatre

I did not want to see any one of them again

Mistigris used to lie in wait for me

'I believe we shall have to make up a bed on the stones,'
she said

That boy was rough and played experiments with him

She married Mr. Fox in less than a month

THE CAT