Barks and Purrs Part 15

Oh, the adorable smell of wet leaves and earth refreshed! It's so new, so pure, I seem to breathe for the first time!

(_He creeps stealthily to the porch_.)

TOBY-DOG, (_suddenly_)

Um! How good! That smells like a walk! Things change so quickly one hasn't time to think. She's opened the door? Let's run! (_He dashes out_.) Well! well! the garden has got back its own color again! A warmish vapor moistens my rough-grained nose. I'm filled with the desire to jump and run. The gra.s.s is reeking, s.h.i.+ning wet. Horned snails are feeling around in the pink gravel with the tips of their eyes, and speckled black and white slugs embroider the wall with a silver ribbon.

Oh! what a beautiful green and gold beastie running out there in the wet! Shall I catch it? Shall I scratch its metallic sh.e.l.l, until it breaks with a little crackling sound? No. I'd rather stay near Her.

She's leaning against the door, taking deep breaths and smiling quietly to herself. I'm _so_ happy! Something inside me feels grateful to the whole world. The light is beautiful, and I'm quite sure that there'll never, never be another storm.

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

I shan't wait any longer; I'm going out. I'll find dry places between the puddles for my dainty paws to step on. An imperceptible thrill runs through the streaming garden, making the jewels hung all about, tremble and sparkle.... The slanting rays of the setting sun find their reflection in my eyes which are spangled with green and gold. Down near the horizon, where the sky is still unsettled, a glittering sword leaps up and puts to flight the dark, fuming cloud-horses, that have been galloping over our heads. Now the odor of the daturas rises and perfumes all the air, mingled with that of lemon leaves, bruised by the hail.

The roses are crowned with midges. Oh sudden springtime! An involuntary smile stretches the corners of my mouth. I'm going to play at tickling my nostrils with the point of a sweet-smelling blade of gra.s.s, carefully stretching my neck to avoid the falling drops. But I want Him to follow and admire me. Will He not come out and enjoy himself with us?

(_A voice is heard humming the motif of the_ Regensbogen: _sol, si, re, sol, la, si,--all flats. A door opens and closes again_. HE _appears under the dripping foliage of vines and jasmine, framing the veranda, and at the same moment, a rainbow is seen in the sky_.)

A CALLER

(_A winter's afternoon, in Paris. The studio; a fire crackles gently in the tower-shaped stove_. TOBY-DOG _and_ KIKI-THE-DEMURE, _one on the floor, the other on his own particular cus.h.i.+on, proceed with the minute toilet which follows a long siesta. Peace reigns_.)

TOBY-DOG

My nails grow faster here than in the country.

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

It's the contrary, with mine.

TOBY-DOG

Really!

KIKI-THE-DEMURE, (_bitterly_)

Not to be wondered at! She clips them for the sake of the hangings ...

Well! (_Magniloquently_), what can't be cured must be endured.

TOBY-DOG

What are you going to do to-day?

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

Why ... nothing.

TOBY-DOG, (_ironically_)

For a change I suppose.

KIKI-THE-DEMURE Pardon, to _avoid_ change. What is this rage for change that takes possession of you all? Change means destruction. Only that which remains stationary is eternal.

TOBY-DOG

I'm eternal then, these three hours past.

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

But you've been out with Her, haven't you? You came in like a whirlwind; bells rang, clothes were shaken out, you were sneezing and laughing and aureoled with icy air.... The end of her nose felt so cold when She kissed me on the forehead. She always kisses me there, just over the dark stripes forming the cla.s.sic M, which She a.s.sures me stands for miaou and for Minet, my name in French.

TOBY-DOG

Yes ... we had a fine run on the banks of the fortifications, and then we went into a shop.

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

Is that amusing?

TOBY-DOG Not often. There are a great many people crowded together.

I'm immediately seized with the fear of losing Her, and I stick close to her heels, no matter what comes. Strange feet push and knock me about and step on my paws. I yelp but the skirts all around stifle my voice.... When we're out of it, we both look as if we'd been s.h.i.+pwrecked....

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

May the G.o.ds preserve _me_ from anything of the sort! Here, the moments have glided peacefully by. When She's not in this house, there's nothing to hinder me; I employ the time as my system of hygiene dictates. After my breakfast of rosy liver and milk, my kittenhood seems to come back to me; I'm filled with a foolish gayety. I go over to him.

He's rumpling big, blackish papers and welcomes me with a quiet smile; we loll on the same divan, and revel in a few idle moments together.

Sometimes, with imperious paw, I tear the paper He holds like a screen between us. It always seems to me the most desirable--the one that crackles best. He cries out, and I throw myself on my back and wriggle with joy in a sort of horizontal dance, He calls "the dance of the bayadeer." Then somehow, everything dwindles before my eyes, grows dim, and far away; I want to rise and go back to my cus.h.i.+on, but dreams already separate me from the world ... Ah! blessed hour when you and She disappear, when the house is at rest and takes a long breath. Soon I'm in the depths of a dark, sweet sleep; my ears alone keep watch and turn like sensitive antennas towards vague sounds of doors and bells ...

(_At this moment someone rings_. TOBY-DOG _and_ KIKI-THE-DEMURE _start and change their positions. The Cat, sitting, encircles himself with his fluffy tail. The Dog, in a sphinx-like att.i.tude, lifts his head boldly_.)

KIKI-THE-DEMURE

What's that?

TOBY-DOG

A tradesman?

KIKI-THE-DEMURE, (_shrugging his shoulders_)

That's not the kitchen bell. Perhaps it's caller.

TOBY-DOG, (_with a bound_)

What luck! They'll have tea and cakes! Come on!! Sugar, sugar! Little cakes! Little cakes!!

KIKI-THE-DEMURE, (_gloomily_)