All day he lay on his cushion , patient and quiet , with his torn neck tied up in a soft bandage , a saucer of cream close by , and an afflicted mistress to tend and stroke him with tender lamentations . We had company in the evening , and my interesting patient was put into another room . Once , in the midst of conversation , I thought I heard a plaintive mew , but could not go to see , and soon forgot all about it ; but when the guests left , my heart was rent by finding Czar stretched out before the door quite dead . Feeling death approach , he had crept to say good-by , and with a farewell mew had died before the closed door , a brave and faithful cat to the end . He was buried with great pomp , and before his grave was green , little Blot came to take his place , though she never filled it . Blot 's career was a sad and brief one . Misfortune marked her for its own , and life was one too many for her . I saw some boys pelting a wretched object with mud . I delivered a lecture on cruelty to animals , confiscated the victim , and , wrapping her in a newspaper , bore the muddy little beast away in triumph . Being washed and dried , she turned out a thin black kit , with dirty blue bows tied in her ears . As I do n't approve of ear-rings , I took hers out , and tried to fatten her up , for she was a forlorn creature at first . But Blot would not grow plump . Her early wrongs preyed upon her , and she remained a thin , timid , melancholy little cat all her days . I could not win her confidence . She had lost her faith in mankind , and I do n't blame her . She always hid in corners , quaked when I touched her , took her food by stealth , and sat in a forlorn bunch in cold nooks , down cellar or behind the gate , mewing despondently to herself , as if her woes must find a vent . She would not be easy and comfortable . No cushion could allure , no soft beguilements win her to purr , no dainty fare fill out her rusty coat , no warmth or kindness banish the scared look from her sad green eyes , no ball or spool lure her to play , or cause her to wag her mortified thin tail with joy . Poor , dear little Blot ! She was a pathetic spectacle , and her end was quite in keeping with the rest of her hard fate .
Trying one XXXXX to make her come and be cuddled , she retreated to the hearth , and when I pursued her , meaning to catch and pet her , she took a distracted skip right into a bed of hot coals .
Blot beguilements day days ear-rings evening first left saucer woes