Part 8

The lady said she would speak to her husband, and I am sure she has, for after that Nap had his meals more regularly, and he was free to roam where he pleased; and he proved himself very useful to the old hens in helping to keep strange cats out of the yard, while their chicks were small.

One Sunday morning when mistress was out in the yard with us, Nap came over to our fence barking for joy, and peeping in at us between the pickets. He seemed so happy to be at liberty. Mistress had brought a lunch out for us, and she offered him some of the meat, which he devoured greedily. I was glad to share my breakfast with him, for having known Dennis so long, I cannot help feeling very friendly toward all dogs.

But Budge and Toddy evidently did not care to share their meat with Nap, so they did what cats often do when they meet with an unpleasant surprise; they sang a song. Budge’s voice is a baritone, Toddy’s a tenor and mine a soprano. But I did not join them on this occasion.

I suppose you have often listened to cat concerts, and perhaps you have wondered why cats’ music is always so sad and doleful. The reason for this is that cats sing only when they are sad or in trouble, when they are contented and happy, they purr.

As soon as the song was ended, Napoleon began to whine, and thrust his nose between the pickets again. I think he wanted more song, but Toddy evidently thought he wanted more breakfast, for the moment his nose was well through between the pickets, Toddy made a lunge for it, and this proved to be Napoleon’s Waterloo. Before he could withdraw, his nose was a perfect network of scratches, with blood oozing out of them like so many small beads.

After Napoleon had retreated, mistress called us into the house, but in the afternoon I went out there again and jumped over on Nap’s side of the fence into the tall grass. But the old speckled hen drove me back with her cackle as she had often done before. She probably thought I was another naughty cat like Buttercup who stole her chickies; but, really, I was only looking for grasshoppers. Now, although I am not much acquainted with Napoleon, I have given him a place in my book, because I want my readers to stop and think how cruel it is to keep a dog chained all the time, and to leave him without his regular supply of food and water.

I will now tell you about Bunny, a little Manx cat that came to our house every evening at supper-time. She did not offer to stay only just long enough to get something to eat. Guy named her “Bunny” because she has only a little stump of a tail, and when running she would raise her back just like a rabbit. I think Bunny must have come from the same country that Jack did, for she was the same kind of a cat, only she was gray, just like Budge. In fact she resembled Budge so much that we were all horrified the first time we saw her. We thought it was Budge himself, and that some one had cut off his tail.

But while Toddy and I were busy smelling of the stranger, and mistress was bewailing the sad fate of her pet, in walked Budge, tail and all, carrying in his mouth a dead sparrow, which he laid at mistress’ feet with a great deal of pride. Then Toddy and I left off examining Bunny and turned our attention to the bird.

Mistress often used to say she wondered where Bunny got the rest of her meals, and where she kept herself; so one evening after Bunny had eaten her supper, Guy and I followed her; and what do you suppose we found? We traced Bunny into a vacant lot, and there under some shrubs was a little cave, dug into a bank of autumn leaves. This was Bunny’s home, and in it she had living with her five as chipper and lively little Manx cats as one could wish to see. Guy interested Don and Teddie in the little Bunnies, and the two boys brought them food mornings and noons; so that thereafter they had three square meals a day. The boys also found good homes for them as soon as they were old enough to leave their mother.

In the rear part of Mrs. Watt’s yard the grass is allowed to stand all summer so it becomes very tall. It was just a capital place for us cats to play hide-and-go-seek, and to catch grasshoppers. I heard mistress say to Charlie one day that she wondered what we cats found to interest us so much in his back yard; so I thought I would show her. The following Sunday, when she sat on the piazza, I carried a hopper up-stairs and laid him down at her feet. She was busy reading and did not notice him at once; but when he began flying around and I after him, she laid her book down and watched us. After the hopper had landed on the floor several times, and I had had several rounds with him, he seemed pretty well tired out, and remained still for a few moments. Mistress picked him up, and seeing he was not the least bit injured, she placed him on the vines, which was very nice for the hopper, but rather cruel to me, I thought. But nothing daunted, I went down-stairs and fetched another one. As I laid him on the floor mistress seemed horrified, for she thought I had mutilated him carrying him so far. She had not known up to this time where the first one came from. She was just reaching out to take my treasure from me, when Mr. Hopper flew toward the ceiling, which led her to conclude that he must be all right, and she did not interfere with me any further. Thus during the warm summer weather I had many pleasant times with my little playfellow, the grasshopper.

XXIII

OUR SUMMER OUTING

When the time came again for mistress and Guy to take their outing, they were quite puzzled what to do with so many cats.

“It was easy enough,” said mistress, “to take one cat when we traveled by boat, and went to grandpa’s. But three cats, and traveling on wheels, and stopping at hotels, is quite a different thing.”

“Perhaps you can make an arrangement with Charlie Watt to take care of them,” said Guy.

Mrs. Watt was sitting on her veranda, and before mistress went away that morning, she went over and asked whether Charlie could take care of us during her absence; and as Charlie was present and said he would be delighted to do it, his mother assented.

I was very thankful, for Charlie and his mother had always been very kind to us.

Soon after that, one morning, two gentlemen called, and mistress and Guy rode away with them. Our basket and plate had been placed in Mrs. Watt’s kitchen, and Charlie fixed us a very nice meal at dinner-time, and we played with the grasshoppers in his yard, so the first day went off all right.

But the very next day we saw what threatened to destroy our peace of mind at Charlie Watt’s. His neighbor had a great fat pug dog, who acted very ungentlemanly from the first, and tried his best to frighten us, peeping between the fence pickets and barking as loud as he could. That very morning the grocer had left our gate open, and Pug who had been watching for such a chance, came in, snorting with rage. It was clearly a declaration of war; but to my great surprise, Budge, who is usually very timid, was the first to take up arms against the enemy. With the most artistic curve in his back, and bristling his tail to suit the occasion, he started out, single-handed and alone. Of course, Toddy and I were not slow to follow such a courageous leader, and for a time the peaceful yard resembled a torrid race-track, with Pug in the lead and myself on the home-stretch.

As round after round took a little wider range, Pug was nearing the corner where the ash pile is located, and stumbling over a tin can, he fell to the ground, and we three on top of him. Being such a fat fellow, he was much more easily exhausted than we, who are lithe and agile; and once down, surrounded as he was, his defeat was complete. Nothing remained but an ignominious surrender. He crouched like the coward that he was, begging for mercy. But we did not let him off until we had thoroughly humbled him, chasing him back several times when he attempted to go, and that was the last difficulty we ever had with Pug.

One night during mistress’ absence, we heard a terrible noise, and the next morning Buttercup’s mangled and bleeding body lay in our front yard. It was said that a dog had done the awful deed.

But the cat population was not diminished by Buttercup’s sudden taking off, for on that very same morning, Daisy had a little spreckled kitty in her basket--only one. But that was enough for poor little Daisy to take care of, for she had a rattle in her throat, which Dr. Smith called “consumption.” I think that is why Daisy was not invited to go with us to Mrs. Watt’s. But Charlie gave her food and water daily at the basement window, and after Buttercup was gone, she had her own little kitten to keep her company.

We were just enjoying our vacation very nicely, when one morning Budge disappeared, and that night we could not find him anywhere, although we could hear his doleful cry coming from some place, no one knew just where. I tremble to think what would have become of poor Budge, if mistress hadn’t come home in time to save him.

Late the next afternoon she and Guy rode up to the curb. I was lying on the grass, and Toddy was in the hammock with Charlie.

As soon as I heard mistress’ voice, I rushed out to meet her, and she picked me up and petted me, and said how glad she was to get home again. Then Mrs. Watt told her the distressing news that Budge had not been seen for two days. As soon as Guy reached his room up-stairs, he heard a muffled “meow” coming out of the wall, and in reply to his name Budge answered “meow,” “meow.” In the cellar his voice could be heard very plainly, so mistress went there and tried to coax him down with a piece of raw beefsteak. He was just above the studding; having taken fright at something, and crawled up between the boards of the inside and outside wall, to the second story.

After trying for several hours to coax him down, mistress went at ten o’clock at night to get a carpenter to open the wall. The good man had already gone to bed, but he arose and came with mistress. He pried away a base board in Guy’s room, and Budge stuck his head through the opening, and mistress pulled him out. Toddy and I were very glad to have our companion with us again, and I hope another time Budge will know enough to run up a tree, instead of getting himself into such a predicament.

The day before mistress came home, a water spaniel puppy arrived from the country, that had been sent to Charlie as a present. He looked just like Dennis, and I hoped he would grow to be as good and wise a dog; but it was not to be so, for he only lived a few days after he came. They named him “Brownie.” So innocent and unsuspecting was he, he would walk right up to us cats and kiss our noses. If he had been a big handsome dog like Dennis, we would not have objected so much. But lady cats don’t care to be kissed by silly little puppy dogs. But no matter how many times Toddy scratched his face, Brownie was so forgiving; the very next minute he would go up to him again. As for Budge, whenever Brownie came near him, he growled so deep down in his throat that once mistress actually looked up into the sky and asked Guy whether he heard that thundering, and Brownie did not venture any farther. After getting several more scratches and a good many taps, he finally stayed away from Toddy. But he came to me whenever he wanted to, and I tried to teach them by my example that a little innocent, harmless puppy is not to be treated like a big, saucy, ferocious dog.

If Brownie had not disobeyed his mistress I think he would be with us still; but the day after we returned home he came into our yard between the fence pickets and helped himself to a dinner that was intended for three cats, a little more than a puppy dog ought to attempt at a single meal. But Brownie evidently thought himself equal to it, and when he went away, our plate was empty. He could not go back the way he came, but had to go around the house and through the gate. That was Brownie’s last visit to us, for that same evening, after suffering dreadful agonies in spite of all that mistress and Mrs. Watt did for him, poor Brownie lay down on the lawn and died.

I couldn’t help thinking of poor Dappledun, of whom it is written:

“He ran in clover up to his knees, His trough was filled with stuff; Yet he’d jump the neighbor’s fence, and act As if he hadn’t enough.

“If only he could have been content With his feed of oats and hay, Poor headstrong, foolish Dappledun Had been alive to-day.

“But one night when the rack was filled With what he ought to eat, He thrust his nose out of his stall, And into a bin of wheat.

“And there he ate, and ate, and ate, And when he reached the tank Where Johnny watered him next morn, He drank, and drank, and drank.

“And when that night John carried him The sweet hay from the rick, He lay and groaned, and groaned, and groaned, For Dappledun was sick.

“And when another morning came And John rose from his bed, And went to water Dappledun, Poor Dappledun was dead!”

Early the following morning I saw Mr. Watt carry the little stiff body out to the rear part of the yard, where he dug a deep, dark hole. There he planted Brownie just as the rays of the rising sun were gleaming over the housetop; and it seemed as though even the proud and stately hollyhocks were bending their heads in sorrow over our young friend’s untimely taking off.

So you see we had all sorts of experiences during our summer vacation.

XXIV

RAISING A FAMILY

Very soon after we had gone to Maple Road to live, one night a lot of little kittens came into my basket; I suppose the kind Providence had sent them, for it was not yet time for Santa Claus to be around again. The little things squirmed and whined most pitifully, and I covered them with my body to keep them warm.

As soon as it was daylight I took a look at my visitors, and there, behold, were six little blind, helpless creatures, two tigers, two Maltese and two black. “What will my mistress say,” thought I, “when she sees this?” I must confess I awaited her coming with some misgiving, fearing very much that she would be displeased.

When mistress opened the door in the morning I arose and went to meet her as usual, and I apologized as best I could; but she did not even seem surprised. She petted me just as she was wont to do, or if anything even more fondly, and my saucer of milk that morning tasted as if it was more than half cream. While I was eating my breakfast, Guy came out, and together they examined my kittens, and praised them. “Aren’t they beauts,” said he, as he fondled one after the other; “I wish we could keep them all.”

After breakfast mistress lifted the pad with my kittens out of the basket and made us up a fresh clean bed with an old comfortable, which was large enough to fall over the rim of the basket, and so prevented any draughts from striking my little ones. Then for many days mistress brought my food and water to me, for with so many kittens I was busy every minute washing them to keep them sweet and clean.

At the end of about ten days my kittens began to open their eyes; and to be able to crawl over each other, and over me as well. One by one, as their eyesight became stronger, they would crawl up on the comfortable and look over the edge of the basket; and very often one would step over a little too far, lose his balance and tumble over unto the floor. Then after a few minutes of groping around he would begin to cry, and I had to go and bring him back, unless Guy or mistress happened to be there.

One day I heard mistress say to Guy: “These kittens seem to be strong in their bodies but weak in their limbs, they topple over when they attempt to walk.”

“They need to exercise their limbs more,” said Guy. “They ought to have a larger place to move around in.”

Then mistress spread an old comfortable on the floor in a sheltered corner of her room, and placed a market-basket in the middle of it, in the bottom of which was a bag full of stones to keep it from falling over when the kittens should climb up on the side of it. Mistress then put the kittens on the comfortable, and in an instant they began hobbling around and in and out of the basket. I lay on the comfortable with them, and watched them with great pleasure. Whenever one got far enough away from the “gym” (as Guy called the basket) to feel lonesome, he would whine; but at my call would follow the direction of my voice, and promptly return. By degrees they became so independent that they would walk clear to the edge of the thick comfortable, tumble over the “embankment,” and meander off at their own sweet will; and so they grew daily stronger.

One pleasant Sunday when mistress and Guy were at home, the comfortable was spread on the garden lawn, with the basket upon it as usual. At first I protested most seriously against this innovation, and started to take my kittens back to their accustomed place in the house. But they had grown so large, it was impossible for me to carry them up the steps, and I had to let them stay. I soon found, however, that the radiant sunshine was as a tonic to them, filling them with joy and strength and courage, and before the afternoon was gone, I had become well pleased with the change.

Just as soon as the sunshine disappeared, Guy put the kittens into the basket and carried them back into the house, and after that I never objected when they were given an outing.

Oh, how very happy I was in those days, with my little ones basking around me in the beautiful sunshine, for even in the house mistress always saw to it that our comfortable was in a sunny place. The basket became the scene of most wonderful activity. Guy said it was horizontal bar, side horse, long horse and race-track all in one; and here were performed some remarkable acrobatic feats, all of which served to make my little ones strong and steady. Of course I was very busy training them in various ways, and first of all I took great care to teach them clean and orderly habits. In this respect mistress was always very helpful, for she left each day a little box of fresh earth beside my basket, and whenever she saw one hunt around and get into a corner, she would go after him and set him into the box, and very soon they understood what it was there for.

As soon as they were old enough I tried to teach them to lap milk with me from the saucer, and this proved to be the hardest task of all. They seemed to get the milk all up into their noses, instead of on their tongues, and it was a veritable sneezing bee. Then again some seemed to think that the saucer was a bath tub. Topsy, one of the black ones, walked deliberately into the dish, and when in the middle of it, sat down and took a sitz bath. Guy said he guessed she wanted to change her complexion. But in a few moments she landed safely on the other side. Meow Junior, one of the tigers, was satisfied to merely face about and dip his tail into the milk, much to the disgust of the rest. But in a few days they had learned to lap milk very nicely, and I thought it was time to take the next step in their education; so I carried my piece of beef to them, to teach them how to chew something solid.

When mistress saw it she was quite alarmed, and promptly took the meat away. But I persisted, fetching it back several times, till finally she let me have my way, saying that a mother was the best judge of what was good for her children. Then seeing that only one could get access to the piece, because he would growl so fiercely as to frighten the others away, she gave a piece of meat to each one. Of course, they could not chew very much as yet, and the pieces were too large to swallow whole, but it was excellent exercise for their jaws and teeth, and a pleasant pastime as well.

On the first day that my kittens began to feed from a dish, they also began to practice at washing themselves, and it was a winsome sight to watch their earnest endeavors to do their very best. I was so thankful that mistress did not forget to keep a saucer of water in a convenient place for them. Then, having made their toilet, usually they would lie down in groups of two, or three, and take their after dinner nap.

One day when I was on mistress’ bed with my kittens, Guy laid his hat down by us, and Topsy went over and lay on the crown of it. It being a soft felt, her weight caused the crown to cave in, but this seemed to suit Topsy all the better. She settled down contentedly in the little round box and began to purr so loudly as to attract the attention of the other kittens. Meow Junior, seeing that Topsy had found such a good thing, concluded to join her; and so one by one they all deserted me, and meandered in the direction of the hat. When I looked up, to my great amusement the five kittens were lying in a circle on the rim with Topsy in the middle, and the hat had the appearance of being trimmed with cats.