"I am sorry we can manage to get no really good photo of' Master Ruffie.' Time after time we have attempted it - in studios, out of doors, by means of professionals and amateurs - including many kind relatives and friends with their ever-ready little Kodaks!'Master Ruffie' steadfastly refuses to face the camera. Again and again the button is pressed in vain, and only the glimpse of a vanishing tail upon the negative is all we have to show as 'Ruffle's' portrait!

"But we have only to look at' Birk-dale Ruffle's' picture, and we have 'Master Ruffie' too! The only difference between them is that the latter is a very cobby little fellow, being perhaps shorter in the legs, which makes him appear to be a somewhat smaller cat than his father. In fact, at the Crystal Palace show he was pronounced by the judges to be perfect in every point.

Miss Whitney's " Brayfort Princess." (Photos: W. Lawrence, Dublin.)

"'Birkdale Ruffie' was noted for the extreme beauty of his expression ; he had certainly one of the most characteristic faces ever seen in a cat, and his son inherits the same. The former was constantly the subject of sketches in the illustrated papers, those by Mr. Louis Wain being especially lifelike.

"Some of 'Master Ruffle's' descendants are, I believe, in the possession of Miss Witney, and have met with great success in the show pen.

"Our cattery is built on the principle of shepherds' huts, each house having a separate wire run, with shrubs planted, and a thick wall of ivy in the background, which gives a picturesque appearance to the whole of the little colony. In summer a mass of luxuriant hops makes a welcome shade from the hot sun.

"The houses are warmed by gas stoves, on which the cats love to sit, purring contentedly, and with the pretty curtained windows, carpets, wickerwork armchairs, and cosily cushioned benches, I think 'Master Ruffie' and his seven feline playmates have a pretty easy time in this tempestuous world!

"The one bone of contention is that the cats have appropriated the sunniest corner of the garden, their houses-having the much desired southern aspect, which our gardener looks at with longing eyes for his beloved peaches and early peas. Happily, he bears the little occupants no grudge, and when we go from home takes over the whole of the cattery into his charge."

"Brayfort Hina."

Here let me give a few details of my dear departed puss. "Persimmon" was a well-known character in the fancy, and had the distinction of being a champion in the National Cat Club and the Cat Club. It was in 1899 when, judging at Brighton, I was greatly taken with a wonderful-headed brown tabby that came under my awards. I gave him first in his class, and when later I obtained a catalogue and saw his price was a very reasonable one, I purchased him, and I may say I never made a better bargain, in or out of the cat fancy. "Persimmon" (as I afterwards called him, in memory of the Derby winner) was bred by Mr. Heslop, of Darlington, that astute and clever cat fancier; and his grandsire was "Brown Prince," a noted Northern prize-winning tabby. I have never seen such a wonderful head as that which made "Persimmon's " chief glory.

" Lonsdale Chrysalis " And " Lonsdale Moth." Bred by Mrs. Gregory. (Photo: W. G. Lews, Bath.)

His face was very round, and his nose quite a snub, and he was blessed with tiny ears and short tail. His shape was perfect, but the markings on his back were rather too heavy, and alas ! he had a white under-lip. But, taking him all round, he was a grand specimen, and a most lovable puss. He fretted himself to death when a change of residence from the country to London obliged me to board him out.

"Persimmon" sired some splendid kittens, which whenever shown proved themselves worthy of their sire's long prize - winning record. At the Crystal Palace show of 1902

Miss Whitney exhibited two of his progeny - a superb neuter "Persimmon Laddie," who covered himself with glory and his cage with cards, and a beautiful kitten that had previously won at Manchester and has since been purchased at a high figure by a lover of the brownies. At the Specialist Show at Bath in January, 1903, "Persimmon Laddie" was again to the fore, and won in the open and ring classes. "Persimmon" was a great loss, for good brown tabbies are rare. I hope, however, to purchase a fine, well-grown son of my dear old "Simmy," and as "Persimmon II." I trust it may be a case of "like father like son," and that by-and-by we may find quite a long list of brown tabby Persians "at stud" in the columns of the catty papers.