chanced to come to the house in his master's company, he always waited
at a respectful distance outside the gate.

"It would take too long to tell you all the wonderful things Dinah did,
but I am sure you all agree with me that she was a remarkable cat. She
came out in a new character when I was ill with an attack of fever. She
would not be kept from me. Again and again she was driven from the room
where I lay, but she would patiently watch her opportunity and steal in,
and when my mother found that she was perfectly quiet and that it
distressed me to have her shut out, she was allowed to remain. She would
lie for hours at the foot of my bed watching me, hardly taking time to
eat her meals, and giving up her dearly loved rambles out of doors to
stay in my darkened room. I have thought some times if I had died then
Dinah would have died too of grief at my loss. But I didn't die; and
when I was getting well we had the best of times, for I shared with her
all the dainty dishes prepared for me, and every day gave her my
undivided attention for hours. It was about this time that I composed
some verses in her praise, half-printing and half-writing them on a
sheet of foolscap paper. They ran thus:--

'Who is it that I love so well?
I love her more than words can tell.
And who of all cats is the belle?
My Dinah.

Whose silky fur is dark as night?
Whose diamond is so snowy white?
Whose yellow eyes are big and bright?
Black Dinah.