XXIIIOUR SUMMER OUTING
Whenthe 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 gentlemencalled, 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 afterButtercup 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 boardsof 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 Toddyscratched 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 thatmistress 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 actAs if he hadn’t enough.“If only he could have been contentWith his feed of oats and hay,Poor headstrong, foolish DappledunHad been alive to-day.“But one night when the rack was filledWith 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 tankWhere Johnny watered him next morn,He drank, and drank, and drank.“And when that night John carried himThe sweet hay from the rick,He lay and groaned, and groaned, and groaned,For Dappledun was sick.“And when another morning cameAnd John rose from his bed,And went to water Dappledun,Poor Dappledun was dead!”
“He ran in clover up to his knees,His trough was filled with stuff;Yet he’d jump the neighbor’s fence, and actAs if he hadn’t enough.“If only he could have been contentWith his feed of oats and hay,Poor headstrong, foolish DappledunHad been alive to-day.“But one night when the rack was filledWith 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 tankWhere Johnny watered him next morn,He drank, and drank, and drank.“And when that night John carried himThe sweet hay from the rick,He lay and groaned, and groaned, and groaned,For Dappledun was sick.“And when another morning cameAnd John rose from his bed,And went to water Dappledun,Poor Dappledun was dead!”
“He ran in clover up to his knees,His trough was filled with stuff;Yet he’d jump the neighbor’s fence, and actAs if he hadn’t enough.
“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 contentWith his feed of oats and hay,Poor headstrong, foolish DappledunHad been alive to-day.
“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 filledWith what he ought to eat,He thrust his nose out of his stall,And into a bin of wheat.
“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 tankWhere Johnny watered him next morn,He drank, and drank, and drank.
“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 himThe sweet hay from the rick,He lay and groaned, and groaned, and groaned,For Dappledun was sick.
“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 cameAnd John rose from his bed,And went to water Dappledun,Poor Dappledun was dead!”
“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.