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that the Irish telephone people had no lines to spare. I could
not understand why they did not put up more, like other
countries did, but it did not matter to me. We used Mrs.
O'Grady's phone, which was offered so gladly. Ma was
VERY fond of Ve O'G as we called her. The Guv liked
her as well, but he saw more of Mr. Loftus. From the big
picture window overlooking the bay Mr. Loftus could be seen
coming round the corner at the bottom of the steep hill, then
trudging up Balscadden Road and right away to the end
where all the picnickers went. When he went off duty he
would often call in to see us and he was always a welcome
visitor. The Guv would be in bed, and Mr. Loftus would sit
facing him and the window.
We listened to the world, too! The Guv had a very power-
ful short-wave radio set which would bring in programs
from China, Japan, India and the Irish Police and Fire
Stations! I preferred music from Siam, or Thailand, or
whatever they now call the country of my ancestors. To the
music of Siam I would sit and sway and gently keep time with
my head. I would see in my mind's eye the temples, the fields
and the trees. I would look back at the whole history of my
ancestors. Some of us went to Tibet (where the Guv came
from) and there we guarded the Temples and the lamaseries.
Like the proctors of Tibet, we too were trained to discourage
thieves, and safeguard the jewels and the religious objects.
In Tibet we were almost black because of the intense cold.
It is perhaps not generally known that my race alter in
color according to the temperature. In a cold, frozen
country we grow very very dark. In the tropical countries we
are almost white. Our kittens are born pure white, and soon
after the characteristic markings appear. Just as humans
have different colors, such as white, yellow, brown and
black, so have we. I am a seal-pointed cat, while Miss Ku'ei
is a chocolate-pointed cat. Her Father was, indeed, the
Champion, Chocolate Soldier. Miss Ku had a very wonderful
pedigree. My papers, of course, had been lost. Miss Ku and I
64
were discussing it one day. I wish I could show you my
papers, Miss Ku, I said, It grieves me to think they have
been left in France. I feel, well, kind of NAKED without
them. There! There! Feef, soothed Miss Ku, Think
nothing of it. I will have a word with the Guv and ask him to
destroy mine, then BOTH of us will be paperless. Before I
could expostulate she had wheeled round and stalked out of
the room. I heard her going down the stairs to where the
Guv was doing something with a long brass tube which had
glass at both ends. It seemed that he put the thing to one eye
so that he could see better farther. Shortly after, the Guv and
Miss Ku came up, still arguing. Oh well, he said, If that
is the way you want it you always were a crazy cat! He
went to a drawer and I heard the rustling of papers and then
the rasping of a match being struck. The smell of burning
paper reached me and then the clatter of fire irons as the
ashes were stirred into nothingness. Miss Ku came over and
gave me a push. Okay, she said with a smile, Now stop
your stupid worry. The Guv and Ma do not care a hang for
these papers, or pedigrees, WE are THEIR children.
My nose wrinkled, and I sneezed. There was a beautiful
smell in the air, something I had never smelled before.
Feef! Where are you, Feef? Ma was calling me. I told her
that I was coming as I jumped off the bed. Following my
nose being led by that wonderful smell I went down the
stairs, Lobster, Feef, said Ma. Try it!
Our kitchen had a stone floor and the Guv once told Miss
Ku and me that there was a story to the effect that a passage
under the flagstones connected the kitchen with the cave
below. It made me nervous in case some pirate or smuggler
should push up the stone from beneath and I should fall
through. But Ma had called, and called for a new sort of
food. Being a French Siamese Cat I had a natural interest in
food. Ma tweaked my ears with affection and led me to the
dish of lobster. Miss Ku was already at hers. Get crackin'
Feef, she said, You are poking around like a real old Irish
Biddy! Of course I was never upset by what Miss Ku said
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she had a heart as good as the purest shrimp meat, and she
had taken me, a dying, destitute stranger, into her home with
gladness. For all her sternness, for all her autocratic manner,
she was a person whom to know was to love.
The lobster was delicious! From Ireland's Eye, Feef,
said Miss Ku, The Guv thought we would like it for a
treat. Oh! I replied, Doesn't he eat it? Never! Thinks
it is horrible muck. Still, if you and I like it he will buy it for
us. Remember those shrimps, Feef? I did indeed! When
the Guv and Ma first brought me to the house I was hungry,
but almost too ill to eat. Give her a tin of shrimps, said the
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