Dixie sitting on a ledge outside a closed windowDixie Is Deserted
Dixie sitting on a ledge outside a closed window
Ofcourse Dixie had not been with People so long without learning the meaning of many of the words that they used. She knew “come” and “go,” and “dinner” and “down,” and a number of others; but she did not know “buy” and “house” and “move.” She felt vaguely uneasy, however, for things began to happen that made her restless and nervous. Lady never sat on the piazza now; she was always going about the house and hurrying up and down stairs. Dixie had always fled to the study for quiet whenever too much was going on elsewhere; but now even the study was no refuge, for books were being taken down from the shelves and laid into wooden boxes. Quantities ofpapers were carefully packed away and great basketfuls were carried down cellar and burned in the furnace. The parlor carpet was taken up, and the room was filled with boxes of books and furniture closely wrapped up in white cloth. Pictures were taken down and set upon the floor against the wall. Much sweeping and cleaning were going on. The worst of it all, however, was when a strange man came and began to pack the china into barrels, and then left the barrels standing in the sitting-room,—her sitting-room, where the sofa with the cushions was, and where the kittens always had their evening frolic.
In all this confusion the kittens were not at all troubled. They thought it was great fun to have the sitting-room full of barrels, and they had the best time of all their lives in jumping from one barrel to another and pulling out bits of the excelsior packing.The little mother, however, was anxious and worried. All cats dislike change and commotion, and this grew worse and worse. She hoped it would soon be over, but it was worse than house-cleaning, and she had thought that was as much as any cat could endure.
At last there came a dreadful day when horses stopped at the gate and strange men went through the house and carried out boxes and barrels and furniture to load into great moving-wagons. Lady was nowhere to be seen, and Dixie fled. When it was dinner-time, she came to the piazza window, but Lady was not there. Somebody Else was not there, and Dixie was an unhappy little cat. After a while, Somebody Else set out a big saucer of fish for her and a big dish of milk for the kittens; but still Lady could not be found. The men had driven off with a load of goods, and Dixie ventured to creep up to Lady’s room.Something of hers might be on the bed, she thought; she would lie down upon it, and maybe Lady would come soon. She went softly up the stairs; but when she came to Lady’s room, it was all bare. The carpet was gone, the furniture was gone; there was nothing lying on the bed, for the bed itself was gone. Then Dixie gave one sad little moan. She was frightened and bewildered. What could have happened, and what was going to happen? She walked slowly downstairs and went out of doors. The kittens were playing in the grass. One of them jumped up and tried to catch her as she went by to persuade her to play with them; but she did not stop till she was in the darkest corner under the barn,—a wretched, despairing little cat. Just at twilight, Somebody Else set out a big dish of milk and another of meat and potatoes. Then she locked the door and went away, and all was dark and still and lonely. Thekittens soon went to sleep, but many a time during the evening the little mothercat crept out to look up to the house. There was no light anywhere, not even in Lady’s room, where she had always seen it latest. After a while she went to sleep. Maybe things would be better in the morning; Lady would surely come back to her.
But when morning came, no Lady came with it, and the house was still shut tight. By and by the door was unlocked and opened; but it was a strange man who turned the key, and other strange men followed him. Dixie peeped in through the window. They were painting and papering and doing other things that she had not seen done before, and she jumped down from the window-sill and ran under the barn again. After a little, she heard some one call, “Dixie, Dixie!” and she hurried out. It was not Lady’s voice, but she hoped Lady might be there. It was Mistress. She hadasked before what Dixie liked best, and now she had brought out a nice breakfast of it for her. She would have been glad to smooth the little cat’s head and try to comfort her, but Dixie would have nothing to do with any one. Lady had gone away and left her, and she was broken-hearted. She was angry, too, to think that her beloved Lady should have treated her so cruelly. Nevertheless, all that day she watched, and all the next, and the next after that, angry to think that Lady had left her, and still hoping and hoping that she would come back.
At twilight of the third day, something happened, for Lady came back. She came especially to see Dixie kitten. At the first sound of her voice, Dixie jumped joyfully; then she remembered how unkind Lady had been, and when Lady began to smooth the little black head, Dixie slipped out from under her hand and raised up her paw andstruck her dear Lady with all her might; then she ran away and hid.
Lady was not angry, for she was one of the People who know how little cats and dogs and birds and horses feel. She understood how grieved and hurt the little kitten was; but there was nothing that she could do to help her just then. It would all have been right and comfortable if she could have explained matters to Dixie, but there was no way of making her understand.