human
Did you really used to set a chair for her at the table and let her eat with the folks?
gpt
Well, Fannie, that statement must be taken with some allowance. Occasionally when there was plenty of room she was allowed to sit by me, and I assure you she behaved with perfect propriety. I kept a fork on purpose for her, and when I held it out with a bit of meat on it she would guide it to her mouth with one paw and eat it as daintily as possible. I never knew her to drop a crumb on the carpet. Indeed, I know several boys and girls whose table manners are not as good as Dinah Diamond's.
human
I suppose you mean me, Auntie, said Mollie.
gpt
Mamma is always telling me I eat too fast, and I know I scatter the bread about sometimes when I'm in a hurry.
human
Well, Mollie, said Miss Ruth, laughing,
gpt
I was _not_ thinking of you, but if the coat fits, you may put it on.
human
What became of Dinah at last, Miss Ruth?
gpt
She made a sad end, Fannie, for as she grew older her disposition got worse instead of better, until she became so cross and disagreeable that she hadn't a friend left but me. She would scratch and bite little children if they attempted to touch her, and was so cruel to one of her own kittens that we were raising to take her place--for she was too old and infirm to be a good mouser--that we were afraid she would kill the poor thing outright. One morning, after she had made an unusually savage attack on her son Solomon, my mother said: 'We must have that cat killed, and the sooner the better. It isn't safe to keep such an ugly creature a day longer.' Dinah was apparently fast asleep on her cushion in the corner of the kitchen lounge when these words were spoken. In a few minutes she jumped down, walked slowly across the room and out at the kitchen door, and we never saw her again.
human
Why, how queer! What became of her?
gpt
We never knew. We inquired in the neighborhood, and searched the barn and the wood-shed, and in every place we could think of where she would be likely to hide, but we could get no trace of her, and when weeks passed and she did not return we concluded that she was dead.
human
You don't think--_do_ you think, Miss Ruth, that she understood what was said and knew if she stayed she would have to be killed?
gpt
said Mollie, positively.
human
I'm sure of it!--and so the poor thing went off and drowned herself, or, maybe, died of a broken heart.
gpt
Oh! said Nellie Dimock,
human
Nonsense, Mollie! said Susie Elliot.
gpt
Cats don't die of broken hearts.