breast and paws are the softest velvet, your coat is spun gold. My dear,
you are the belle of cats,'

"'Dear Mrs. Velvetpaw,' said Gold Elsie, 'my beauty and my prosperity I
owe in large measure to you. But for your wise counsels I should still
be a'--

"'Hush! don't speak the word. My dear, never again allude to your
origin. It is a profound secret. You are received in the best society.
Mrs. Silvercoat tells me it is reported that your master sought far and
wide to find a worthy successor to King Cæsar, and that he esteems
himself specially fortunate in that, after great labor and expense, he
procured _you_. The ignorance you sometimes exhibit of the customs of
genteel society is attributed to your foreign breeding.'

"'Mrs. Tabitha, I feel at times a strong desire to visit my old friends
in the barn once more.'

"'Let me entreat you, my dear Miss Elsie, never again to think of it.'

"'But there is poor Mrs. Barebones almost gone with a consumption. I
should like to show her some kindness.'

"'Her sufferings are ended. She has passed to the land of cats,'

"'Poor Mrs. Barebones! and Robber Grim? Do you happen to have heard any
thing of him?'

"Silently Mrs. Tabitha beckoned her to follow, and, leading the way to
the orchard, pointed to a sour-apple tree, where Gold Elsie beheld a