"So I thought that, as we have many rats aboard the old craft, she would
be able to pick up a good living there; and I called to her, and she
came at once, and here she is."
Here she was, sure enough; and as Jack ended his story, she chimed in
with a plaintive little "Me-ow," which said, as plainly as ever any cat
spoke yet, "I'm very cold and hungry, and I do wish somebody would take
me below and give me some food!"
She had not long to wait. Half an hour later she was the best-fed cat in
that part of New York City, and that night she lay snugly curled up with
a good warm blanket over her.
Of course, the first thing to do with an adopted cat is to give it a
name, and Jack Harmon, who was a bit of a wag in his way, and a great
admirer of the monster elephant which was just then making such a stir
in New York, called his new pet "Jumbo."
Jumbo soon became the pet of the whole crew, and of the passengers, too,
when they came on board, a few days later, for the voyage back to
England.
Before we were half-way across the ocean, the bits of meat or cake, and
bits of white bread soaked in milk, which were being constantly given
her by one and another, had made her look as round as an apple.
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