Do you ? '' No , we did not . But it was our experience that grown-ups had a habit of saying things hard to understand . `` What is Uncle Roger like ? '' was our next question . `` Well , I like Uncle Roger , '' said the Story Girl meditatively . `` He is big and jolly . But he teases people too much . You ask him a serious question and you get a ridiculous answer . He hardly ever scolds or gets cross , though , and THAT is something . He is an old bachelor . '' `` Does n't he ever mean to get married ? '' asked Felix . `` I do n't know . Aunt Olivia wishes he would , because she 's tired keeping house for him , and she wants to go to Aunt Julia in California . But she says he 'll never get married , because he is looking for perfection , and when he finds her she wo n't have HIM . '' By this time we were all sitting down on the gnarled roots of the spruces , and the big gray cat came over and made friends with us . He was a lordly animal , with a silver-gray coat beautifully marked with darker stripes . With such colouring most cats would have had white or silver feet ; but he had four black paws and a black nose . Such points gave him an air of distinction , and marked him out as quite different from the common or garden variety of cats .
He seemed to be a cat with a tolerably good opinion of himself , and his response XXXXX our advances was slightly tinged with condescension .
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