A. Frances Friebe

“ How happy I was when we reached home and how grateful when the mistress went to the telephone and called up the kind lady of the Animal Rescue League. She told her that there were a dozen or more abandoned cats at the shore and giving directions to her begged her to go, or send at once to see that, if they could not be saved, they would be put out of their misery. A happy, peaceful life with dear Tom for a companion followed from then on. ”

“ It was a brave task to jump down but better than staying out all night, so I set my teeth and leaped softly in. I was greeted with a snarl and hiss which sounded like a bunch of fire-crackers going off, and there was mother on guard, standing with arched back in front of a box of newly-born kittens in a dark corner. I crept toward her and with a cry of delight she recognized me. I told my pitiful story while she gently led me to another corner and bade me lie down on some carpeting, near which stood a saucer of milk. ”

“ And as I sit in the gentle glow of the firelight, the light of my life growing dimmer day by day, waiting to join the great majority, I thank the God of my master, that I am no longer a nomad, a wanderer, and my heart goes out to those who are. ”

“ I thought of Lord Roberts and proceeded to his house where I found that not only had his people gone but that he had been left locked up in the house.
CHAPTER VII
I tried to be brave, but when I heard the pitiful cries of Lord Roberts, I broke down and almost gave up in despair. This, then, was the end of my dreams of a happy life during my old age. Oh, human beings! Could you realize how dependent we are upon your kindness, you would never forget us in a time like this. ”

“ There are probably few people in the city of Boston who realize that over 25,000 abandoned cats and 3,000 dogs are electrocuted each year by the Animal Rescue League, by means of a cage which is charged with a strong current of electricity. After entering and the door is closed, they die without pain or struggle. June is the time of year that people abandon dogs, cats and other pets, for at this time they move to the seashore and disregard their four-footed friends, leaving them to wander in the streets. ”

“ Business, however, had kept the master so tied up that he could not spare the car. After my rescue they tried to make me comfortable but I thought of poor Lord Roberts and tried to tell them of his plight, and when the car was slowly nearing his house I flung myself out and crept to his window and when they followed, his cry of despair made them understand, and Lord Roberts was saved! ”

“ Lord Roberts' people went to the same seashore resort that ours did and, to my delight, I was to go also, leaving Tom with the caretaker to protect the house from rats and mice in our absence. I enjoyed myself every summer by going down to the beach and watching the children in bathing and then sunning myself on the piazza. ”

“ Neither a provision store nor a school is really a home. In fact I have heard of cats who slept on beds and some who had bassinets; who sat by open fires and dined on the fat of the land. What is more, during my recent wanderings, I met one of these aristocratic animals who had lost his way, and he told me great tales of wealth, what his folks did, how he went to the seashore every summer, even going in a motor car. ”

“ She had likewise taught us to be careful of our appearance, and especially to keep clean. This latter she showed us by wetting her paw with her tongue and washing her face with it, and, moreover, had told us we need not go over our heads and back of our ears unless it looked like rain (so considerate of her, for cats, as well as boys, hate to have their ears washed) . Of course she taught us to hate water and always to step over a puddle; to keep good company or none; and above all things not to stay out late at night, or walk on back fences. ”

“ Everyone is so kind and considerate to me now in my old age that I plead for the others, the less fortunate ones of my species—and I also pray that all who read these simple annals of my life will find it in their hearts to remember their faithful feline friends and never under any circumstances be tempted to ill-use or abandon them. ”

“ I soon perceived that the broad highway was too much exposed for my traveling, and so I proceeded into a back yard, jumped a fence, and found myself on a back road, where market men deliver their goods. It was really quite attractive and sociable, for I came upon a group who seemed to be serenading some mutual acquaintance. ”

“ I nursed a wound on my hip bone for weeks, which was very painful and was caused by a boy hitting me with a sharp stone. What satisfaction can it be to them? Harming a defenseless animal can surely give none, but it always seems a great temptation to them to do so. ”

“ Some of these cats had been kept alive by eating such things as they could find in the refuse left by the summer people. A few rats and mice had helped to keep them alive, and one poor creature had been so hungry that he had pushed his head into an empty tomato can, and as he could not get it out was rushing wildly about, shaking the can with much violence. ”

“ It was dark and cold and we did not like it very well, but mother cuddled us up in her warm embrace and tried to make us feel that it was best for us to be away from people. When Mr. Carver came back and saw the empty box he came down into the cellar and scolded poor mother, saying, "Now, old lady, I want you and the kittens to stay upstairs, for I am going to give them away; besides, I want you to kill the mice which are getting into everything up there. You may keep one of your children, however, for we need two cats here." ”

“ People frequently came in and looked at us, and occasionally some man or woman would take one of the cats or dogs away, never to be seen at the League again.
One day a motor car stopped at the door and an attractively dressed woman entered and said that she was seeking a good cat to take home. ”

“ I often proved this fact by tapping a large globe with my paw and watching Africa chase Asia and Asia in turn pursue America as it turned swiftly around.
The janitor had an office in the basement, and I was supposed to stay there during the school session, but I used to creep softly up the stairway and listen at the class-room doors. Often the door of a dressing-room chanced to be open and I could enter here and watch through the crack of the school-room door. ”

“ Preface
"Uncle, why don't you write the story of your life?" So says my nephew Tom to me when he comes in and finds me sitting in a brown study before a comfortable fire. I have finally granted his request, for I have spent many an hour in relating my thrilling adventures to him and am sure that he has enjoyed them and even profited by them. ”