A Diplomatist Downed By A Kitten

We remember to have seen a distinguished diplomatist, trained to hold his own in the courts of kings, and never at a loss to get out of an embarrassing position or to meet an act of rudeness by a rapier thnist of wit, utterly put down by a small black kitten. The diplomatist had been playing with the kitten, but he went too far. Instead of making fnn foi the kitten he made fnn of her, and this she was quick to see and to resent. Determined to mark her sense of his condnct, she at once put a stop to the game and calmly bnt resolntely placed hei small person in front of the man of ceremony, wrapped her taü neatly rotmd her toes, and gazed at him with an air oí pitying contempt. It was an electric moment, and the rest of the company watched with palpitating eagerness the struggle for ascendency. It proved, however, an unequal contest. Af ter a few moments of regard which told more of sorrow than of anger, the kitten deliberately began to wash hei little black face, stopping every now and then, paw in hair, to give a look of fainl surprise, mingled with disgust, at hei antagonist. The sitnation speedily became ridiculous, but not for the kitten, and in a very short time the diplomatist had evidently admitted himself beaten. The kitten then rose, walked to the window and placidly gazed out at the landscape, every curve in her back showing her sense of the bad taste which had characterized the incident that had iust