order that I might not wet my velvet slippers on a rainy day: and
once, ah! well do I remember it, he did me even greater service; for a
wicked Tom of our race, who had often annoyed me with his attentions, had
actually formed a plan of carrying me off to some foreign land, and would
have succeeded too, if dear Doggy had not got scent of the affair, and
pounced on that treacherous Tom just as he was on the point of executing
his odious project.

I can speak of these things _now_ without the slightest fear of being
accused of vanity. If I say my eyes were beautifully round and green,
they are so no longer. If I boast of the former lightness of my step, it
drags, alas! but too heavily now. If I dwell on the sweetness of my voice
and melody of my purr at one period, little can be said in their favour
at the present day, and I feel therefore less scruple in dilating on the
elegance of my figure, and the taste of my _toilette_, as, when speaking
of them, I seem to be referring to another individual Puss, with whom the
actual snuffy old Tabby has little or no connection.

But, it will be said, these last matters have not much to do with the
object I have in hand. I must not attempt to palm off on my readers any
adventures of my own under the shadow of a dog. I must rather allow my
Cat's-paw to perform the office for which it has become noted, namely,
that of aiding in the recovery of what its owner is not intended to
participate. I must endeavour to place before the world of Caneville, to
be thence transmitted to the less civilized portions of the globe, those
incidents in our Dog's life which he has been too modest to relate
himself, in order that after-generations may fully appreciate all the
goodness of his character. To _greatness_, he had no pretension, although
few animals are aware how close is the relation between these two
qualities.

I think I see the dear old Dog now, as it has been often my privilege to
behold him, seated in his large arm-chair, his hair quite silvered with
age, shading his thoughtful, yet kindly face, his pipe in his paw, his
faithful old friend by his side, and surrounded by a group of attentive
listeners of both sexes, who seemed to hang upon every word of wisdom as
it dropped from his mouth; all these spring to my mind when I recal his
image, and if I were a painter I think I should have no difficulty in
presenting to my readers this pleasant "family party." The very room in
which these mee