[Gutenberg 23737] • The Cat in Grandfather's House

[...]good at heart but surly and tart of temper because of his deformity. The brass teakettle looked to be good-tempered but unreliable. "There's something catlike about a teakettle," Hortense reflected. "It likes to sit in a warm place and purr. And it likes any one who will give it what it wants. Its love is cupboard love." "Dinner isn't until seven," said Grandmother, "so perhaps you'd like to go to the kitchen and see Esmerelda, the cook, Uncle Jonah's wife. If you are nice to her, it will mean cookies and all sorts of good things." Hortense thought, "If I'm nice to Esmerelda just to get cookies, I'll be no[...].