“’She crept in and rolled over on her side, and we ran to her, for we were almost starving.  We lay long upon her breasts, and she licked us over and over.

“’I dropped asleep upon her, and in the night I awoke, feeling cold.  I crept closer to her, but that only made me colder still, and she was wet and clammy with a dark moisture that was oozing from her side.  I did not know what it was at that time, but I have learnt since.

“’That was when I could hardly have been four weeks old, and from that day to this I’ve looked after myself:  you’ve got to do that in this world, my dear.  For a while, I and my brother lived on in that sty and kept ourselves.  It was a grim struggle at first, two babies fighting for life; but we pulled through.  At the end of about three months, wandering farther from home than usual, I came upon a cottage, standing in the fields.  It looked warm and cosy through the open door, and I went in:  I have always been blessed with plenty of nerve.  Some children were playing round the fire, and they welcomed me and made much of me.  It was a new sensation to me, and I stayed there.  I thought the place a palace at the time.

“’I might have gone on thinking so if it had not been that, passing through the village one day, I happened to catch sight of a room behind a shop.  There was a carpet on the floor, and a rug before the fire.  I had never known till then that there were such luxuries in the world.  I determined to make that shop my home, and I did so.’

“‘How did you manage it?’ asked the black cat, who was growing interested.

“’By the simple process of walking in and sitting down.  My dear child, cheek’s the “Open sesame” to every door.  The cat that works hard dies of starvation, the cat that has brains is kicked downstairs for a fool, and the cat that has virtue is drowned for a scamp; but the cat that has cheek sleeps on a velvet cushion and dines on cream and horseflesh.  I marched straight in and rubbed myself against the old man’s legs.  He and his wife were quite taken with what they called my “trustfulness,” and adopted me with enthusiasm.  Strolling about the fields of an evening I often used to hear the children of the cottage calling my name.  It was weeks before they gave up seeking for me.  One of them, the youngest, would sob herself to sleep of a night, thinking that I was dead:  they were affectionate children.

“’I boarded with my shopkeeping friends for nearly a year, and from them I went to some new people who had lately come to the neighbourhood, and who possessed a really excellent cook.  I think I could have been very satisfied with these people, but, unfortunately, they came down in the world, and had to give up the big house and the cook, and take a cottage, and I did not care to go back to that sort of life.

“’Accordingly I looked about for a fresh opening.  There was a curious old fellow who lived not far off.  People said he was rich, but nobody liked him.  He was shaped differently from other men.  I turned the matter over in my mind for a day or two, and then determined to give him a trial.  Being a lonely sort of man, he might make a fuss over me, and if not I could go.