Part 2
‘Master Henry had two beautiful dormice given him; he attended them with the greatest care; they lived in a small trunk lined with moss and cotton, and with small holes pierced in it, to admit the air. I had often seen them as he cleaned out the box, and longed to devour them. Why, said I, should those little mice be taken so much care of? They were never intended for any other purpose than as food for cats; then, why are they not given to me? They are now so fat they can scarcely walk: then I will have them: my mother cannot expect I should refrain from mice, though they are favourites. From that time I watched my opportunity to get them: one day, when the gentlemen were playing with them, I entered unperceived, and hid myself under a chest of drawers.’
‘Augustus,’ said Henry, ‘I think it must be very uncomfortable for these poor things to be always confined, and as this is a very warm day, I will leave the top of the box off, then they may run about the room, if they like: they are now so tame, that I know they will come to me when I want them; we will take care not to shut the cat in, and will keep the key in our pockets until our return. They searched all the room, as they supposed, for me, and thinking all secure, locked the door, and ran down stairs.’
‘Oh, my child! I must pass over the scene of murder which ensued: even at this day, the remembrance of it agitates my soul. As I was making an end of my bloody repast, upon the head of the second mouse, the door unlocked: I attempted to hide myself as before, but they saw me. Poor Augustus burst into a flood of tears:--‘Oh, my dear dormice, what a dreadful death have you come to! Why, why did I leave the lid off the trunk?--But the nasty cat shall suffer for this!’ So saying he took a great stick from the shelf, and was running towards me, when Henry stopped his arm. ‘No, Augustus, do not beat the cat for what is natural for it to do. How will she know what you are beating her for? She could not know they were different from other mice: it is we who deserve punishment; we have killed our dormice by leaving them so carelessly, who ought to have searched every corner; if we had, we must have seen the cat. I am quite as sorry as you can be, but I will not commit an act of injustice, by beating the cat. Let us now go down to the parlour: poor Susan will be disappointed, after walking from Beech-Park to see them.’
‘They then left me, overwhelmed with confusion. I felt so much gratitude to Henry for his kindness, that I determined never to be guilty of the like offence again. I wish all children would reflect how much better it is to use us poor animals with kindness, than cruelty: had these gentlemen beaten me, I should have thought that sufficient punishment; as it was, I determined their mildness should not be misapplied, and longed for an opportunity of shewing my reformation. One soon offered: I told you my master was fond of pigeons; one day, when he was in the loft, where they were kept, I passed; but, determined to keep out of temptation, I was going down stairs, when I saw a large black rat, with eyes of fire. My ambition was excited to attack so noble a foe: besides the glory of conquest, I was urged by hunger, for my mistress had that day ordered the servant to give me my dinner, which she had neglected: it was now evening, and I had not eaten since early in the morning. I did not spring upon the rat, without giving him warning, as, I am sorry to say, is too often the case with our species, but gave him timely notice, by spitting and swearing; but, though he was of the largest size, and I not yet at my full growth, the coward fled. I pursued close upon him, without regarding whither he led me; he ran into a hole, and I took the watch before it, ready to seize him the moment he came out. At last my hunger got the better of my glory, and I determined, reluctantly, to give up my prey, and get something to eat; but, to my surprise, I found myself in the very loft where all the pigeons were, the door locked, and no creature near. I searched round and round for a place to creep through, but, alas! no one presented itself. My master, I knew, would not visit his pigeons until the next night; how was I, hungry as I then was, to wait so long without food? Young pigeons were all round; what an opportunity for a feast! I approached one, but checked myself: here was a glorious time to establish a good name! If I die, cried I, how will my memory be honoured; and if I live, I must be happy in the esteem of all the family.’
This delightful thought supported me in the midst of all my sufferings: when Henry came the next night, I called to him--‘Here am I, almost starving in the midst of your pigeons, yet I have not hurt one of them.’--He did not seem to understand me; but said to the servant, who was with him, ‘Oh, Thomas, when I was obliged to leave you, last night, did I not charge you, not to let that tormenting cat in? Here has she been all night; and, of course, all my beautiful pigeons will be devoured, as my dormice were. Get away, Puss,’ said he to me, ‘though I scarcely ever struck an animal in my life, I fear I shall you, I loved my birds so much.’ I would not, however, go down stairs, but waited on the outside of the door to hear what he would say, when he found his birds safe. My master could scarcely believe it possible; but, after examining, and finding all safe, he said the kindest things of me. Even Thomas, who had always treated me unkindly, even he praised:--‘Well,’ said he, ‘I will believe now that a cat has sense; and I will take care that she shall always be well fed for the future.’
‘Henry carried me down into the parlour, where he got plenty of nice meat for me; and told all the family what I had done. Never shall I forget the joy I felt; I was caressed by all the family in turn: Miss Eliza, for the first time, patted my back, and said I was almost as wise as Ulysses’s dog.’--‘What story is that, sister?’ said Augustus. ‘A certain Grecian general, who went to the siege of Troy, was so long absent, and met with so many troubles, that, at his return, no one knew him, none but his faithful dog, who was so overjoyed at again seeing his master, that, after licking his hand, and looking in his face with affection, he expired at his feet.’
‘I am glad to hear you remember what you read, my dear; that story has always been a favourite one of mine, though I cannot see any parallel between our cat and your Grecian’s dog.’
‘From this time I was a great favourite, and was often honoured by having a little cream out of Mrs. Mead’s own saucer. Many people who came to visit Mrs. M. were told the story, and they never failed to give me marks of approbation.’
‘One day, when my mistress was repeating it to a lady, ‘It reminds me,’ said she, ‘of a very strange circumstance, which fell under my own observation, and is an undoubted fact. Miss W--, of W-- Hall, had a cat of which she was very fond: the poor child was taken ill, and the cat used to sit all day at the chamber-door, uttering most distressing mews; at last, upon the earnest entreaty of Miss W--, she was let in. The poor cat seemed to know what was the matter, and would watch its mistress night and day: it could scarcely even be prevailed upon to eat, and grew quite thin: at last Miss W-- died, and they did not like to drive the poor thing away, but soon after the funeral they lost the cat, and could not imagine what had become of it, until Mrs. W--, one morning, walking in the church-yard, to indulge her melancholy reflections at the tomb of her daughter, found the poor cat stretched out, dead, upon the grave of her kind mistress.’
‘After this, I was often in danger. I have been pursued by dogs, and more cruel school-boys; I have had kicks and scolds from the servants, when they were out of humour, or I was troublesome. Once, Master Henry had two young gentlemen to spend the holidays with him: I soon found they were very different from my dear Master Henry; but whenever they took hold of me, I defended myself with my claws and teeth. This made them think of a way of disarming me; they got me into their own room; and, in spite of my cries and entreaties, cut off my claws so close to my feet, that they were dreadfully painful, and put me to very great inconvenience: I could not climb a tree, catch a mouse, nor even hold my prey: nothing they could have done was so great a plague as this. It was very long before they grew again, and they were never so strong or so sharp as my first. The only resistance I could now make was by biting; but they soon deprived me of that, by breaking and pulling out all my teeth. Ah, my child! it is impossible to describe the torture I then endured: it put me quite into a fever. I told my mistress, as plainly as I could speak, what had happened, and who had so cruelly treated me. What was my indignation, when I heard these boys say, they thought the butcher’s boy must have done it; and the Meades, who were unsuspicious, never thought any one in the house guilty. I was tenderly fed for some time upon soft bread and milk, and at last recovered from the pain; but what a mutilated, helpless creature have I been ever since!’
‘Another time, when I was dreaming a delightful dream, I felt myself rudely seized hold of by these boys, whose name was Arnold, and heard them say,--‘Now we will have some fine sport with this creature, as she can neither bite nor scratch; and, as that lukewarm Henry is so fond of it, let us put it into his bed, that he may have enough of her.’ Then they put a cap upon my head, wrapped me up in a long cloth, so that I could not move any of my legs, and in this condition, tied me with a rope into Henry’s bed. What was his surprise at seeing me! He, however, untied me instantly, and took off my bandages: but my poor legs were so cramped with my position, it was some time before I could use them. Henry rubbed them gently with his hands, which relieved me greatly.--‘Poor Puss,’ said he, ‘you have been cruelly used, but you never shall be so again; who could think that the Arnolds, who appear so tender, should be guilty of such a thing as this? I now think they must have cut off your poor claws and teeth. You shall stay in my room to-night; to-morrow I shall tell my mother.’
‘I do not know whether they had any proof of their guilt, but the next day, as I sat in the window, I had the pleasure of seeing the carriage go off with them, and I have never seen them more: since that time, we have never had any cruel boys here.’
‘But, dear child, I fear I have tired you; it is such a pleasure to an old cat to chatter, that I forget how time goes.’
‘Indeed, mother,’ said the kitten, ‘I am not tired in the least, but could sit all night to hear you. Do tell me some more of your troubles.’
‘I think I have related all the most material things; but if I remember any more, I shall tell you another time: at present I find myself hoarse with talking so much: and see, the night has overtaken us; I should not have staid out so long, for I fear I shall wet my feet with the dew:’ so saying she jumped from the tree, followed by her kitten, and reached the Hall in safety.
THE END.
C. Spilsbury, Printer, Angel-Court, Skinner-Street, London.
* * * * *
Transcriber’s note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.
Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following changes:
Page 4: “approach a dwelliug” “approach a dwelling” Page 18: “wito her lessons” “with her lessons” Page 34: “would aways do” “would always do” Page 48: “much better it s to” “much better it is to” Page 55: “my dear; tha” “my dear; that” Page 61: “I heard these boy” “I heard these boys say”