I Felt Safe.
I Felt Safe.
I Felt Safe.
“One day the river grew very big and spread up to the houses, yes, up over the windows of the houses, and broke the houses in pieces. I was sleeping in a rocking chair and the water wet me and waked me from sleep and I sprang up on top the rocking chair back, and the water swashed and there was a great noise and the rocking chair went sailing off and many other things went, and the chair began to go down deeper and then I jumped off on to a bucket. Something hit that a knock and I had only time to catch hold of a box; a small one. There was just room to get all my paws on and I had to stick my back up high. I expected every moment to be drowned. I little thought I should live to tell the story. But a piece of board was knocked against me. I sprang upon that. Then came a chair. I sprang upon that. Then came something else; some thing wonderful, but I said at the beginning that this is a wonderful story. This next thing was a baby’s crib with the baby in it! The curtains were open and the baby was looking out. I jumped from the chair to the cradle and lay down on the baby. I was glad enough to get that resting place. I felt safe with the baby. Somebody would come to get the baby. The baby put out its hands and took hold of me.
“I don’t know what became of that poor baby. The crib tipped over. I heard a man speak, and perhaps he went and got the baby. I was lucky enough to jump on to a firkin, and on this I floated down, down, down, down, I don’t know where, but I cried, cried, cried, oh how I cried!
“I bumped against something hard, something very big. I scrambled up. Men were on it, and a woman, and a girl, and boys. They clapped and shouted and laughed. Oh what a noise! Don’t people know that loud noises make our ears ache? Don’t they know that our ears are made to hear very little faint mouse-taps, butterfly-wing noises, and we can’t bear loud noises? No, they don’t know. But I must go on with my story.
I Used to Get Into the Place Where the Girl Slept.
I Used to Get Into the Place Where the Girl Slept.
I Used to Get Into the Place Where the Girl Slept.
“That big hard thing was not a house nor a barn. It moved over the water. You cats that have lived only on ground cannot think how dreadful it is to stay in the midst of water. Not a bit of ground! No grass to eat. Oh I thought I should die for want of a bit of something green! No trees to climb! But there were some very high poles set for me to climb; poles taller than trees, and ropes and everything handy fixed for me to hang on by. I was treated well. The men fed me, the women fed me, the girl fed me, the boys fed me. The cook taught me some tricks which I shall be happy to show to those present at this famous party, if I shall be properly invited. A little girl held me and she put me around her neck for a comforter. I let her do it. The cook hung a bell round my neck. The noise of it pained my ears, and I was glad when the woman took it off. She took it off because I used to get into the place where the girl slept, and wake her up.
“Now when the ship came to the ground the cook put me into a bag and got into a cart. He was going to give me away. Pretty soon I smelled grass. Then I scratched and cried. Oh how I did want a piece of something green and to roll in the grass! Every cat here knows it would be a hard thing to live without something green. I soon got something green, and plenty of it. The cook opened the bag a little, to show me to another man and I took a sudden spring and away I went, and the more he called, ‘Puss! Puss! Puss!’ the faster I ran, and at last I found myself all alone in the fields, in a strange country.
Two Live Things Sitting Together.
Two Live Things Sitting Together.
Two Live Things Sitting Together.
“I rolled over and over, and tore up the grass, and ran up and down trees, and then I lay down behind a bush and watched to see if there were any moles or field mice in that country. Pretty soon I saw two live things sitting together. They looked like rats, but they had white on them. They were sitting in the sun. I was going to spring at them, but I stopped. I was in a strange country. How did I know if the creatures were good to eat? They might be bad as that bad meat which killed poor White Velvet, White Satin, White Floss, Black Satin, and Black Floss; or they might have dreadful teeth, or dreadful claws.
“While I was waiting a minute to think about it, I heard a sound in the grass; a creep, creep, creep, creeping sound in the grass. It was a cat. But she did not spring quick enough. They heard her and skipped out of sight quicker than a wink.
“As the cat sprang past me I could see that she had no tail. ‘Poor thing,’ I said, ‘she has lost it in a trap!’ Pretty soon I saw another cat without any tail. Then some kittens without any tails. I thought that must be a dreadful place for traps. I dared not step in the grass to hunt.
“I got very hungry keeping still without hunting for mice and moles, and at last I went to a house. In the yard of the house a black-and-white cat without a tail stood and looked at me.
“‘What do you want here?’ said she.
“‘I want to go in the house,’ said I.
“‘Be off!’ said she.
“‘I won’t!’ said I.
The Black-And-White Cat.
The Black-And-White Cat.
The Black-And-White Cat.
“Then she began to spit, and she flew at me, and I flew at her. A woman came running out and took me up. ‘Oh you beautiful creature!’ she said. ‘You’ve got a tail! I’m so glad to get a cat with a tail.’ I must tell you, dear Lady Yellow-paw and all present at this famous party that the cats of that strange place did not have any tails. ‘No tails!’ cried Lady Yellow-paw and others. ‘How then do they show when they are glad and when they are mad?’
The Mouse That Black Velvet Caught.
The Mouse That Black Velvet Caught.
The Mouse That Black Velvet Caught.
“I said at the beginning, dear Lady Yellow-paw, that this is a wonderful story. Let me tell you that the cats of that place do not wish to have tails. ‘Notwishto have tails?’ cried Lady Yellow-paw and others at the famous party. No, your ladyship. But let us not be conceited and think our own ways are always the best. To be sure a tail does add to the good looks of a cat, still we all know that a tailisa great care; always likely to get rocked on, or stepped on, or pulled, and is sometimes in the way when you want to sit down. That no-tailed cat made my tail a way of hurting me. All present must have seen that its tip is gone, though all have been so polite as to seem not to notice this. It was the doings of that jealous no-tailed cat. She was jealous because so much notice was taken of me. She could not bear me to come into the house. She clawed, and bit, and spit at me so that my mistress had to let me sleep in the room with herself and her little boy. One night I did what pleased my mistress very much. One night a mouse jumped on her boy’s bed, and waked him up, just as I used to wake up that girl when I had that bell on my neck. I caught this mouse, and found him quite as good as any in our own country. My mistress praised me more than ever, after this, and held me, and stroked me a great deal, but her doing so made that other cat maul me worse than ever, and I should have run away if my mistress herself had not come away. My mistress came to this country and brought me with her. Here I am, out of reach of that jealous cat’s teeth and claws. Here I am well-fed and tended. Here I live an easy life. Yet still I am not happy. Would you know the reason why? My mistress has another cat, a partly white cat. People call her a beautiful cat. So she may be to any one who fancies white paws and white noses. I do not like to see my mistress hold that cat and stroke her. I am obliged to see it. I am obliged to see the boy like that cat; hug that cat; I am even obliged to see her allowed to jump up and eat milk from the same bowl with him, somethingIhave never been allowed to do!
Something Black Velvet Was Never, Never Allowed to Do.
Something Black Velvet Was Never, Never Allowed to Do.
Something Black Velvet Was Never, Never Allowed to Do.
“All this is hard to bear. I do not like to think about it, and to keep myself from thinking about it I employ myself in teaching the way of opening doors. Every cat should know how to open doors. There may be times in a cat’s life when she may save her life by knowing how to open a door. There are times in every cat’s life when she may get food by opening a door.
“Here a number of cats sprang to their feet and began to tell of particular times when they had saved themselves and got food by knowing how to open doors. Among them was the cat that hadn’t common sense. ‘One at a time, my dears,’ said Lady Yellow-paw. ‘Snowball, will you begin?’â€
“But I humbly beg your Majesty’s pardon,†said the lovely Pussyanita to the King. “The particular times when all these saved themselves or got food by knowing how to open doors were not in Black Velvet’s story. You asked, oh King, for Black Velvet’s story. That is ended, I am silent.â€
“You shall not be silent!†thundered King Grimalkum. “Speak! As king of all the cats, I wish particularly to know the particular times when all those saved themselves and got food by knowing how to open doors. As king of all the cats, I should be well informed on all such matters.â€
She Used to Sit on a High Wall.
She Used to Sit on a High Wall.
She Used to Sit on a High Wall.
“To tell you what you ask,†answered the lovely Pussyanita, “would take a longer time than I have to live.â€
“Time shall be granted you,†said the king. “Begin without delay to tell what Snowball told.â€
What Snowball Told.
What Snowball Told.
What Snowball Told.
“When my sister Lily and myself were quite young, but not very, the people who lived in the house began to talk of drowning us. Now all present at this famous party will agree with me that if we are to be drowned at all we should be drowned when we are too young to know anything about it. I suppose there is not one here present who would not rather have been drowned when she knew nothing about it, than to be drowned now.
“When our mother heard drowning spoken of she took us under the barn, and there we stayed a long time. We lived under the barn. Our mother would not let us come out. She used to sit on a high wall and we wanted to, but she said dogs would get us and boys would scare us. A small boy used to come out there with his books and his slates and his other things, and this small boy crawled under the barn and found us and dragged us out, and then our mother moved back to the house to live. On the very day we moved back, I was put into a covered basket and sent away in a rattling thing called a carriage. The noise it made frightened me almost to death. I scratched the basket and clawed the cover, and stuck my paws through, and mewed and cried, for I was dreadfully frightened at the rattling! At last they put me in a house. I was afraid to stay in that house. Everything in that house was strange to me. The people were strangers. It seemed like a dreadful place. The people put their own things on all the good high places, and every time I jumped on a good high place, there would be a running and a screaming enough to scare you out of your senses. As if kittens would knock things off! As if kittens were clumsy as people and could not walkbetweenthings! You know kittens, and cats too, need high places to jump up to.
Just Right to Spring At.
Just Right to Spring At.
Just Right to Spring At.
“There was a small boy in the house and he had a whip. I need say no more. You all know or can understand, what it is to live in the house with a boy and a whip. But I was going to say that even the oldest of us have been kittens once and we know that a kitten must spring at things a-moving. I did. The boy rode on a wooden horse, and the horse had a tail just right to spring at. It was placed behind the boy so that he could not see me. But the people could, and they punished me for doing what I could not help doing. A kitten would not be a kitten did it hold back from springing at such a beautiful tail a-moving.
“I was whipped and put down cellar a great many times and even when I had grown quite large; for I was always of a lively turn.
Curled Up on the Best Rug.
Curled Up on the Best Rug.
Curled Up on the Best Rug.
“Oh what fun I had with the people after I learned to open the cellar door! Mornings they would say ‘I wonder who let the cat up?’ Sometimes just after I had been put down cellar for meddling with tassels or knitting work, they would find me on the best bed or in the best chair, or in the best room curled up on the best rug. At last these people took all their things and went away and left me there with nothing to eat. Every day I had to go forth to seek my food. Pinky-white has told you something of what this means. Hanging around back doors, kicked, starved, frozen, barked at by dogs, chased by cruel boys! Oh tongue cannot tell what I suffered from cruel boys! They yelled at me, they threw stones, they tormented me in every way they could. Just the sight of one would make me tremble. One day when I was on a clothes-pole I saw two boys coming, far away. They yelled at me and picked up stones. I scrambled down. I ran toward the house. I heard their shouts. I ran to the back door. The door was shut. I sprang up, caught the latch, the door opened, I ran in to a woman, looked in her face and said, ‘Oh do take care of me!’
The Rat Family.
The Rat Family.
The Rat Family.
“The woman was so much pleased with my opening the door that she invited me to live in that house, and I was glad enough to stay for there is a meat-shop in the house. I have lived there a very long time. I make myself useful by driving off cats and dogs that come to steal meat. Of course I never steal. I do not need to. I am fed so well that I never know what it is to be hungry, and have no wish for mouse-meat or rat-meat. In fact the rats and I are such friends, I sit near them in the garret and watch their goings on in their families, and they never mind me at all.
“My good fortune came from knowing how to open doors. I will say no more, for I know the company wish to hear Madame Pussy Hunter’s story.â€
Madame Pussy Hunter’s Story.
Madame Pussy Hunter’s Story.
Madame Pussy Hunter’s Story.
“I am chiefly an out-doors cat. I like to catch moles and field-mice and rabbits, and bugs, and butterflies. I like butterflies almost as well as Pussy Gray did. Poor Pussy Gray who was stung in the eye by a bumble-bee while watching for butterflies and went crazy! I am fond of birds too.
“In this I am different from the renowned Tabby Furpurr, who found out a way of not liking birds, and on that account had her picture taken and put in a frame!
Just Dropping Off to Sleep.
Just Dropping Off to Sleep.
Just Dropping Off to Sleep.
“I was always a butterfly hunter, but not always a mole hunter, a field-mouse hunter and rabbit hunter. I will tell you how I happened to become a mole hunter, a field-mouse hunter, and a rabbit hunter.
“One day I went out among some tall flower stalks to catch butterflies, and got very tired of jumping, and lay down to take a nap under the flower stalks. I was just dropping off to sleep when I heard a noise and looked up and saw my sister coming. She asked me to go to her house and get some cream. She knew where there was a good deal of cream in a good place. She wanted me to open the pantry door. As my sister was anxious for me to go, I went, and we both enjoyed a hearty meal. We crept out of the pantry and then softly under chairs and tables to the passage-way. In that passage-way was my sister’s kitten playing with a ball of yarn. She pawed it, and clawed it, and pushed it, and tumbled heels over head over it, as kittens will do—ah, we were all kittens once! and at last she pushed it into a room. We peeped in at the door and saw the kitten leave the ball suddenly, and pop behind the screen. Her tail was very big, and her back was up, so we knew something had frightened her, and crept in to see what had frightened her. In the middle of the room was a great chair, and from that chair was something hanging down, something furry. We went near to see what it could be. It looked like a dog’s head upside down. It was a dog’s head upside down. Cats that have always seen dogs’ heads upside up, have no idea how a dog’s head looks upside down. This dog’s head was upside down and the whole dog was upside down; upside down and asleep.
The Dog That Was Upside Down.
The Dog That Was Upside Down.
The Dog That Was Upside Down.
“Both our tails began to grow big. We left the room quickly, and softly as possible, and ran through a long passage, then up-stairs, then through another long passage, andthenwe heard the dog coming, barking! We ran faster. We knew he was on the stairs; knew he was after us. We got to the end of a long passage. The bark of the dog sounded nearer and nearer. There was no way out of the passage. Oh what a moment that was! I saw a door. I sprang up twice, and opened it the second time trying. I tremble, even now, to think what might have become of us had not a window of that room been open, or had I not known how to open a door. We darted through that window, and went down by a water-spout. The dog looked out and turned and ran down-stairs, but by the time he was in the yard we were safe on a shed. Oh how thankful we ought to be that dogs cannot climb!
“I was saved, but in my haste I trod on a tack nail, and it stuck in my paw and made my paw in great pain. I went limping, and the pain of the paw made me sick. My dear mistress! How good she was to me! She took out the nail and bound up the sore place, and fed me with warm sweetened milk and water, or if I was thirsty, gave me cool, clear water to lap, and held me, and made for me a soft bed, and talked to me, andpooredme. Oh how pleasant it is to be talked to andpoored!
“I felt so grateful to my dear mistress that as soon as I was well I went out to catch everything I could for her—rabbits, moles, field-mice. That was why I became a hunter. Everything I could I brought in and laid at her feet, because I wanted to please her. I would not eat one of them until she told me I might. I never ate even a mouse until I had shown it to her. Sometimes I bring birds. She is not pleased with me, then. She scolds me when I bring birds. I don’t know why she scolds me for bringing birds. I should like to know the renowned Tabby Furpurr way of not liking birds.â€
Scarcely had Madame Pussy Hunter finished when up sprang a Spry White Kitten and hopped out on three paws, and said: ‘Ican tell a story of a door opening.’ Some of the older ones tried to hiss her down. She was asked if her story would tell how she lost her right fore paw. Upon learning that her story would tell how she lost her right fore paw, they asked to hear what the Spry White Kitten had to say.
The Spry White Kitten’s Story.
The Spry White Kitten’s Story.
The Spry White Kitten’s Story.
“It is a short story that I am going to tell, but I wish to tell it. I wish to say that for my part I have never found any good come from knowing how to open doors. Not that I know how, but my mother does. She opened a door the other day to show me some cream. It was butter-cream streaming down a butter-churn. She told me to jump up and lick, and I did, and a man came and boxed my ears and I have not heard well since.
“Another time to please me, she opened a door and let me into a large dining-room that had long curtains just right to scratch and to climb up by, and a funny old feather hung over a funny old clock. I could go up on those good curtains, and jump to the clock and play with the feather. And one day I meddled with the clock to find out where its noise came from, and was caught and got the worst whipping I’ve ever had yet.
The Cat With Her Ears Tied Up.
The Cat With Her Ears Tied Up.
The Cat With Her Ears Tied Up.
“Then here is my brother Bobby hiding yonder behind Black Velvet. Why does he hide? His ears are tied up with strings. Bobby likes work-baskets. He teased our mother to let him into a room where there was a work-basket. He played in it, and the girl tied his ears with strings, and he ran round, and rolled, and could not get them off, and ran into a coal-hole, and stayed till he was very hungry, and when he went into the house he went to a boy that was sitting on the floor eating milk. That boy did not give him any milk. No. He took a great cloth and tried to wash Bobby’s paws in the milk! Bobby got away, and now he has come to this famous party with his ears in strings. A pretty state he is in to come to a famous party! We all know how dreadful it is to have our ears meddled with.
It Got Hold of My Leg.
It Got Hold of My Leg.
It Got Hold of My Leg.
“But all this is nothing to what happened afterwards. My mother opened a door to let me into a room where there was a mouse-hole. Now a boy had put in that room a curious thing. I went close up to it to see what it was. It was a crab, but I did not know that. I was young. I never had seen a crab. I touched it to find what it was made of, and it got hold of my leg just above my paw. I never screamed so in all my life. Oh how I did scream! And no wonder. My leg was broke. My paw had to be taken off, and now I have to be three-pawed. Now I have to go limp, limp, hopperty limp! Only three paws to run away from cruel boys with, and barking dogs! Only three paws to climb with! Only three paws to claw with! No; as for me,Ihave never seen much good come from knowing how to open doors!â€
“‘You had better sit down, Miss,’ exclaimed Black Velvet. ‘Young people should be seen and not heard. We are speaking at this famous party of the good of knowing how to open doors—not of the bad. Mrs. Beulah Black is present, and has something to relate which all will like to hear.’â€
Mrs. Beulah Black’s Story.
Mrs. Beulah Black’s Story.
Mrs. Beulah Black’s Story.
“In me, my dear Lady Yellow-paw, you see a child of the unfortunate Pussy Gray who when watching for butterflies was stung in the eye by a bumble-bee and went crazy, and ran away. There were three of us born on the same day, namely: Lily, Dinah Dusky and myself, Beulah Black. Pussy Gray was one of the best of mothers. She herself cared neither for rats, mice, nor moles. She liked birds and bugs and was very fond of butterflies. But she would sit long watching at a hole to catch mice or moles for us, and then she would bring them to us, and show us how to play with them, and stand looking at us in her motherly way. She grew thin from staying in to take care of us. We were a quarrelsome set.
“I don’t know what became of Lily, but Dinah Dusky went when she was very young to live in a corn store. I stayed at a house nearer my mother’s house, and it was well that I did, for at the time she got stung in the eye by a bumble-bee, she had another young family, and I was able to go in and take care of them, and to punish them when they needed punishment. I was then a mother myself with my first little brood around me.
“I remember the day well. My mother left the family and went into the garden to catch butterflies. If she did not see any butterflies it was her custom to stand still and listen for the sound of their wings. She was doing so when that sad thing happened to her. My sister, Dinah Dusky, had come that day to see my dear little beauties and we two went out together to catch bugs for them. Our mother was in the garden not far from us. She stood stock still. She had heard the sound of a butterfly’s wings. An instant more and she would have turned her head.
“Then it was that the bumble-bee stung her eye. She ran. We ran. We could not catch her. We could not think what made her behave so. She ran this way and that way, over fences, back again, through bushes, over bushes, across fields, and at last away she went out of sight and was never heard from afterwards. Every day my sister Dinah Dusky and I went forth to look for our mother, hoping to bring her home to her young family.
“It was when we had been in the fields looking for her that we saved ourselves by my sister’s quickness in opening a door. I will explain how this happened.
The Cat That Was Stealing Milk.
The Cat That Was Stealing Milk.
The Cat That Was Stealing Milk.
“My sister and I went into a swamp to look for our mother, and we caught sight of a rabbit there. We lay down close to the ground, and crept, crept, crept, softly along, not making a bit of noise. Sometimes we stopped creeping; then we crept; then we stopped; then we crept, getting all the time nearer and nearer. The rabbit was asleep part way under a log. We had crept very near when all at once we heard the bark of a dog. Dreadful sound! In an instant we were on our feet and running. We ran towards a house. At first the dog did not see us. Then he saw us and ran after us, barking. Oh how frightened we were! We ran faster but he ran faster than we. He came near us, barking, barking, barking, oh it was terrible! For he came so close to me that I felt his breath. He caught me by the back of the neck, and just then a boy called him off, and he dropped me and went to the boy. I ran on. My sister had gone far ahead. We ran towards the back of the house. The dog came again. We heard him coming afar off. He would not stay with the boy. I almost died with fright. There wasn’t a tree nor a clothes-pole near. But there was a door that my sister had opened before at times when it was necessary that she should get something to eat without being seen. She opened this door now, and frightened a cat that was there stealing milk out of a pitcher, and made her tip over the pitcher.
“We went in and ran through a back shed to the barn. I sprang up on a hay rack, and my sister—all at this famous party will be surprised to hear what my sister did. My sister sprang up on the horse’s back!
“We were not a minute too quick. We just saved ourselves. The dog was close behind. But he could not get at us and he had to go away.
“I have more to tell. That horse and my sister became friends. When he stayed in the barn she used to stay on his back. He liked to have her stay there. He could not bear to be without her. He was not easy unless she came and stayed on his back.
“The man said it would not do. He said it would hurt the horse and they carried him far away.
“Now comes the sorrowful part. My sister mourned so for the horse that she would not eat. She would only lap a little water sometimes. She grew weak and thin. She did not clean her fur. She would stay in the barn and lie down on the spot where the horse used to stand. At last she was seen no more and after a long time she was found, dead, high up on a haymow in a far corner!
My Sister Sprang Up on the Horse’s Back!
My Sister Sprang Up on the Horse’s Back!
My Sister Sprang Up on the Horse’s Back!
“This is all I have to say, your ladyship, but my younger brother David is here. Though now bigger than I, he was once smaller. He was one of the young kittens our mother left when she went out to catch butterflies and was stung in the eye by a bumble-bee. David will tell you of a time when he opened a door and ran away, and why he ran away.â€
All present said they would like to hear David’s Story, and he began as follows:
David’s Story.
David’s Story.
David’s Story.
“I was one of the young kittens Pussy Gray left when she went out to catch butterflies. My sister Beulah Black has told you what happened to Pussy Gray, how she went crazy and went nobody knew where, and was never heard from afterwards.
“My Sister Beulah Black had a young family of her own, and one day she tried to carry us to her house, in order that she might not have to be all the time running back and forth. It happened that I dropped into a hole, and she could not get me out. She had to leave me. Now this was lucky for me, for the others of my mother’s young family, and all but one of my sister Beulah Black’s young family were sent away and lost. I have often wondered why it is that so many little kittens are sent away and lost.
She Took Turns Rocking Me and Her Dolly.
She Took Turns Rocking Me and Her Dolly.
She Took Turns Rocking Me and Her Dolly.
“Only for falling in that hole I might not be here. But I came near dying there. When taken out I was almost starved to death. I could not move; I could not make a sound. Girl-Nellie took me out and kept me for her own. She made me a cotton-wool bed in a cricket, she covered me over with silk, she fed me with a spoon, she held me just as if I had been a baby. And when I grew larger she used to rock me in the baby’s cradle and sing to me. She took turns rocking me and her dolly, and when dolly was being rocked I sat and waited for my turn to be rocked and sung to. Oh, how I did love my little mistress! I wanted to sit on her lap. I wanted to be with her a great deal. I told her all this, though perhaps she never understood what I said. I knew the time for her to come home from school, and went always to meet her. She did not know how I knew the time. People do not know how cats know things. My dear mistress would not let boy-John torment me. Boy-John was not cruel, but he wished me to sit up on my hind legs, and to hold a stick, and to jump through a hoop. It was easy enough to do such things but I did not like to do them. Boy-John used to say to the baby, ‘Come Baby, bring David!’ I was so big then that baby could hardly lift me, but he would drag me, and push me, and try to lift me.
Could Hardly Lift Me.
Could Hardly Lift Me.
Could Hardly Lift Me.
“Many at this famous party have spoken of what they have suffered from cruel boys and from dogs, but nobody as yet has spoken of a baby. Tongue cannot tell what I suffered from that baby. A baby will step on any part of a cat. A baby will sit on a cat. A baby does not mind what part of a cat it lifts up a cat by, whether by the tail or by a leg, or by the head. A baby will pull your ears, will stick its finger in your eyes, will even meddle with your smellers, and you must keep from touching it, because it is a baby.
“I never did touch that baby to hurt it. I loved that baby. I kept my claws way in out of sight, and if I ever squealed it was sometimes when he sat down on me hard, and squelched the squeal out of me before I knew it.
“I come now to something painful to speak of. You will be surprised to learn that I ran away from that dear Nellie mistress. This will now be explained.
“Unhappily for me, I had great skill in charming birds, and I was as fond of birds as my mother Pussy Gray was of butterflies. I mean I was fond of them as food, not as friends. There was no cat anywhere around that could charm a bird as well as I could. I used to stay under a tree and when a bird came and sat on a bough I would look straight up at him, and then he could not fly away. He would cry, and flutter his wings, but he could not fly away. He would have to drop.
I Dropped the Bird.
I Dropped the Bird.
I Dropped the Bird.
“I used to carry the birds to my dear mistress, for I wanted to please her, and birds were the best things I could get. But she was not pleased; she scolded me. I could not understand why she praised me for catching a mouse and scolded me for catching a bird. A bird is better than a mouse. Pretty soon she began to do something besides to scold. I was punished in the way cats are punished. I need not tell. All at this famous party know. After I had been punished a great deal I kept away from trees. But one day I was in a window-seat, asleep. The window was swung open, and I lay there to enjoy the sunshine and fell asleep. The noise of a bird woke me. I stretched myself out flat and looked up. The bird was on a high window above. When I had looked at it a little while it began to cry, and then it flew down to the top of the window that was swung open. It flew lower and lower, and I made a spring and caught it. My mistress came in and I dropped the bird on the window-seat, and jumped down and crept away. I felt so ashamed I did not know what to do.
“I was not whipped, but I was punished. I punished myself. I left that pleasant home and my dear mistress. You will understand why when I explain.
“That night my mistress’ mother said, ‘We cannot have David killing so many birds. Something must be done with him. I will get a boy to do something with him early in the morning.’ I knew what she said. I did not know by the way people know. I knew by the cat-way of knowing, and not by the people-way. All present at this famous party know how cats know what people say. I understood what my mistress said, but I kept still under a table, and when nobody was looking I crept under the chairs out into the back room, and opened two doors and ran away, far away, and for a long time I lived the dreadful life of a cat without a home.
“One day a man invited me to go home with him. He keeps a store. There are herring and eggs in the store. I have lived there quite a long time. I want to go back to my dear mistress, but I am afraid they will get a boy to do something with me. I like to suck eggs, though as my master keeps a stick I do not take any except the broken ones he gives me. When I tease for herring he gives me a piece. I watch people and if they touch anything that belongs to my master I lay my paw on them and speak.
“Scarcely had David finished when out popped two gray little kittens, twins, both named Kittywinks, saying:
“‘We are the Kittywinkses, and we’ve come to this famous party.’
“Lady Yellow-paw waved her paw and said: ‘One Kittywinks at a time, my dears.’
The Good Child-Baby.
The Good Child-Baby.
The Good Child-Baby.
“One Kittywinks then said: ‘David talked about a child-baby. Call bad. Child-baby not bad. We’ve got a child-baby. He does not step on us. He does not sit down on us. He does not squelch us. He does not hurt. He touches us softly. He would never tie strings on our ears. He poors us, and strokes us, and lets us sit on chairs and sofas with him, and crawl all over him, and play with his curls, and play with his beads, and play with his playthings. He likes us, only he does not like to have us kiss him with our noses, but with our mouths, but we don’t know how to kiss with our mouths, and we have to kiss with our noses.’
“And the Kittywinkses capered back to their places.
“All present at Lady Yellow-paw’s famous party were pleased with the Kittywinkses, and no wonder, for they were a merry pair of twins, and not much like the sour faced ones, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, called in the story,DumandDee.â€
“What story?†cried King Grimalkum in a stern voice.
“The story of the renowned Tabby Furpurr,†answered the lovely Pussyanita. “Tabby Furpurr who found out a way of not liking birds, and had her picture taken and set in a frame.â€
“I wish to hear the story,†cried the King. “Tell it.â€
“With pleasure, your majesty,†replied the lovely Pussyanita, “but to do so will take a longer time than I have to live.â€
“Time shall be granted you,†answered the king. “Tell all you ever heard of Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and of the renowned Tabby Furpurr.â€
The lovely Pussyanita bowed and began to tell all she had ever heard of Tweedledum and Tweedledee and of the renowned Tabby Furpurr.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
“In the days when Mouseroun al Ratchid was King of all the Cats, it was his custom to disguise himself in mealbag powder and walk about the country to see what he could see, and see it without being known.
The Good-Kind Boy.
The Good-Kind Boy.
The Good-Kind Boy.
“One cloudy morning soon before a storm—the time when our race are liveliest—Mouseroun called Phi, his wisdom cat, and the two set forth upon their travels. After proceeding quite a distance they came in sight of a small boy with a porridge pot, sitting under a tree, eating porridge. A white cat close to his feet begged for the porridge, and a big dog stood by and licked the boy’s face and begged for porridge, and put his nose in the boy’s bread-bag.
“‘Of what kind is the boy?’ asked Mouseroun of Phi.
“‘Of the good kind,’ replied Phi.
“‘How knowest thou that, oh Phi?’
“‘Because the dog and cat come close and show no fear. They ask for food, sure of getting it.’
“‘Tell me, oh learned Phi, why a boy has long claws only on his fore legs.’
“‘Because his hind legs are for walking and standing,’ replied Phi; ‘and for walking and standing, short claws are better than long claws.’
“‘Tell me further,’ inquired Mouseroun, ‘why a cat mews and a dog barks.’
“‘For the same reason that a cow moos and a horse neighs, and a pig squeals, and a bird sings, and a frog croaks, and people speak,’ answered Phi. ‘Of course all these would mew if they could, but as they cannot mew they must do what they can do.’
“‘And why, oh Phi, are some cats born white, and others black, and others gray, and others of divers colors?’
“‘Because,’ answered Phi, ‘it takes all kinds of cats to make a world.’
“Just at this moment a young black-and-white cat came up and began spitting at the dog, and clawing the cat, and biting the boy’s toes. When the dog growled, the cross cat ran out of sight.
“‘Shall we go on and observe what that ill behaved creature will do next?’ asked Phi.
“‘By all means,’ answered Mouseroun, ‘but look where at yonder window a ribboned white cat sits stiff and straight, gazing at something afar. Let us hasten thither.’
Cupep the Careful.
Cupep the Careful.
Cupep the Careful.
“They hastened, and when they reached the window Mouseroun asked of the ribboned white cat: ‘Oh, ribboned white cat, sitting stiff and straight gazing at something afar, at what art thou gazing, and what is thy name?’
“‘I am gazing at flies,’ answered the ribboned white cat, ‘and I am called Cupep the Careful.’
“Mouseroun made a sign to Phi to ask of the ribboned white cat why he was called Cupep the Careful. Phi did so.
“‘Because I can be trusted,’ replied the ribboned white cat to Phi, ‘and trusted in any place, among china, glass, pictures, bottles, papers, no matter how high the shelf, how narrow, or how full. I step in and out so carefully that no harm is ever done. Nobody minds even if I step on the baby’s face. You see I am allowed here with papers and a bottle and feather, easy to upset. All this is why I am called Cupep the Careful. I shall presently sit on the paper, and to sit on paper is pleasant.’
“As Cupep the Careful finished telling why he was called Cupep the Careful, Mouseroun drew Phi’s attention to two dark objects sitting in a barn at some distance. Bidding Cupep the Careful good morning they went towards the barn and found that the two dark objects were two black-and-white young cats. Said Phi, ‘These must be the sour faced twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, calledDumandDee. I have often heard of them, but never any good.’
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
“They went nearer. The sour faced twins sat side by side looking cross and unhappy. Mouseroun motioned to Phi to address them.
“‘Are you not the twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee, calledDumandDee?’ asked Phi, ‘and is it not one of you which shortly ago bit the toes of a boy, and spit at his dog, and clawed his cat?’
“‘It was I,’ said Tweedledee, ‘who did that. I could not maul Cupep the Careful and I meant to maul somebody. I will maul him if I can. The stuck-up thing! Everybody praises him. He has a watch to wear. Nobody praises me and I have not even a ribbon. He has had his picture taken and hung up. Why don’t they take my picture?’
“‘They’d much better take mine,’ snarled Tweedledum. ‘I’ve been crying to have my picture taken ever since I saw that one of Tabby Furpurr who found out a way of not liking birds, and on that account had her picture taken and set in a pussy willow frame. They won’t take my picture. But I’ll be even with them. I get hold of the clock strings, I tangle yarn, I won’t purr, I climb posts and tear down the flowers, I scratch the baby’s face, I pull away his playthings, I wait on the doorstep and bite his fingers, when he tries to reach me, and I kill birds.I’mnot going to find a way of not liking birds if they won’t have my picture taken! I am better looking than Tabby Furpurr; I’m sweet and lovely.’
I Bite the Baby’s Fingers.
I Bite the Baby’s Fingers.
I Bite the Baby’s Fingers.
“‘I am sweet and lovely myself,’ saidDee.
“‘You’re not!’ saidDum.
“‘I am?’ saidDee.
“‘Say it again!’ saidDum.
“‘I do say it again!’ saidDee.
“‘Take that!’ saidDum.
“‘Take that!’ said Dee. And the two seemed as if they would tear each other’s eyes out, so that Mouseroun was wroth, and Phi had much ado to keep him from punishing them both on the spot.
“‘A future time is better,’ said Phi. ‘To act in anger is to make ourselves like these. Come, let us go and seek out the much renowned Tabby Furpurr who found out a way of not liking birds, and who on that account had her picture taken and set in a pussy-willow frame.’
“Mouseroun and Phi pursued their journey, rambling hither and thither, listening to the speech of bees, flies, bugs, worms, toads and frogs, and to the butterflies’ happy hum, which is too faint to be heard by the clumsy ears of people—people who think they hear everything and hear so little!
“‘Dost thou know,’ asked Mouseroun at last, ‘where dwelleth this renowned Tabby Furpurr?’