She had her own ideas about me, which she communicated to me when we were sufficiently intimate for her to speak openly. Perhaps she did not admire me quite so much as I admired myself; but perhaps she was right--who knows? I have heard that even among men, lookers-on are sometimes the best judges. She did full justice to my strength and courage, and applauded my daring way of rushing upon an enemy, without regard to his size or position, instead of running into a corner and spitting at him. She admitted, without hesitation, that mine was the superior proceeding; but she suggested, that perhaps it might be as well not to be quite so ready to attack other dogs before they had given me any offence: also that it was unnecessary to suppose that every man who came to the house _must_ have bad intentions, whether he gave me just cause for suspicion or not. In fact, she hinted that it was good to be brave, but bad to be quarrelsome. Then as to my personal appearance, she acknowledged that I was larger and handsomer than she, and that my rough, shaggy coat was far from unbecoming; but when I laughed at her finical cleanliness, and called her affected for not keeping her own white fur as rough and muddy as mine, she reminded me that it was that very neatness, so despised by me, which had procured her entrance into Lily's drawing-room, while I, with all my good qualities, was never allowed to come up stairs. I had always thought it rather grand to bang about in a careless manner; and if I knocked any thing down, I supposed it was the thing's fault. I once swept down with my tail a whole trayful of crockery; and when I was scolded for doing mischief, I thought it quite sufficient excuse to say to myself, "I did not do it on purpose; what is the use of making such a fuss?" But I now saw clearly that Pussy's care not to do any mischief at all was both more agreeable to others and more advantageous to herself. For instance, the gardener's wife turned me out in the cold while she was washing the china, whereas she let Pussy walk about on the very table among the cups and saucers, stepping so carefully with her soft little paws that there was no danger of any breakage. I have seen her walk along the edge of every shelf on the dresser, without disarranging a single plate. Then, while I was despising Puss for catching mice, I heard the gardener's wife giving her the highest praise for being an excellent mouser; and to my surprise, I found out that it was the regular work for which she was kept in the house.