Marshall Saunders

“ Denville says that if boys and girls are kind to cats and dogs and other creatures, they will be kinder to each other. She says we should all protect something weaker than ourselves.
As I lie on my cushion on the window-seat I watch the crowds hurrying across the Common and think this over. Suppose all the people were kind to each other, suppose all the cats, and dogs, and sparrows, and pigeons and squirrels on the Common were well-fed and happy, what a beautiful spot this Beacon Hill would be. Those people are not all kind. ”

“ After she had got tired of paddling in the water, she put on her shoes and stockings, and we went over a foot-bridge, and across another meadow, then up through an orchard of pear trees and across a field of winter rye, and then—then into the most beautiful wood I have ever seen.
It was not like the parks about Boston, lovely as they are. They have a calm, cultivated air. This wood in Farmer Gleason's land is wild. Things grow any way they like. ”

“ The owl, of course, knew all about it, but he was a very bold fellow and evidently scorned us all. While Mona was staring and sniffing the air in his direction, the great creature made another swoop. Not a sound was audible. Owls are very sneaky creatures. He hovered over the apple-tree nearest the carriage-house—there was a loud cackle from Beauty, and a spluttering from the chickens. ”

“ Denville's face was very much amused. “I was just thinking, Mary,” she said, “how many points of similarity there are between human beings, and the lower order of animals. These cows are just like us in one respect. They like a quiet, happy home. You remember what an unhappy household there is next us in Boston. The mother delicate and fretful, the servants unruly, the master of the house a tyrant. Their sons hate to come home. ”

“ Jimmy Dory went on unconcernedly. “You yourself, sir, have often pointed out to me the fact that cat nature is full of contradictions. Would you dream that cultured, domestic, home-loving, sister Serena has ambitions beyond our domestic hearth, that in cat spirit she daily and nightly roams the world, in search of adventure?” ”

“ The hen, apparently trotting aimlessly round the back-yard and the wood-house, and the young orchard, was really all the time in pursuit of the Wyandotte. The rooster kept so far ahead that no one but ourselves suspected the mischief she was doing.
“I've watched her for two days,” said Serena, “she just trots after him. It makes him nervous, and he keeps going. Sometimes he gets so exhausted that he lies down. She'll kill him if some one doesn't notice.” ”

“ I am not ashamed to say that my mother was an ash-barrel cat before Mrs. Darley rescued her. That is, she was a poor cat who had to pick up her living in back yards. She is a grayish, wistful-looking creature with a quiet manner. Her name is Dust-and-Ashes. She knows a good deal, but she doesn't talk much.
My father, whose name is the Piebald Prince, is an Angora. He is very handsome, very aristocratic, very dignified, but not at all proud. He says he believes it is wrong to call any cat common or unclean. ”

“ I said cautiously. “It is all country, isn't it? Now, what is the country like? You know I have never been off Beacon Hill.”
“What do you imagine it is like?” she asked.
“Something like the Common?”
“Very like it. Suppose each house on Beacon Hill had a piece of land attached to it as large as the Common, and even much larger.”
“Why, you couldn't see the cats in the next yard,” I replied in surprise.
Mona opened her great mouth and laughed heartily. “Couldn't see them, nor hear them, nor the dogs either. But you'll have to go to the country, little cat, to see what it is like.” ”

“ She was in my place—usurping the attention of my young mistress, for there lay little Mary, wide awake, her head resting on her arm, her face turned toward the cat on the chair, a smile of utter beatitude playing about her lips.
She was afraid of frightening the newcomer, but she need never be afraid of that. I have made a discovery. The Common cat is not shy—she is bold. That is, she is shy with enemies, but bold with friends. ”

“ Why, I am first in the affections of my little mistress. I believe she likes me better than she does her parents.”
“Hem! hem!” growled my father doubtfully, while Serena and Jimmy Dory burst out laughing.
“Well, anyway,” I said in some confusion, “she just surrounds me with comfort from morning till night. She never leaves me. I go everywhere with her, and there is not another cat about the place.”
“Then there must be dogs,” cried Jimmy Dory promptly, “and we all love dogs—oh! yes!” ”

“ Darley was so glad. She just loves sunshine. She went round the house opening doors and windows, and just as soon as breakfast was over, we all ran out on the sidewalk.
Cats get dreadfully tired of a back yard, and the back yards on Beacon Hill are so sunless and dull. We like fun and excitement—a little mild excitement—as much as human beings do. So my father and mother sat on the big sunny stone door-step, while Serena, Jimmy Dory and I played on the pavement.
We had a tiny round pebble that we were rolling with our paws. ”

“ Oh! how careful human beings ought to be about new pets. I thought my heart would break as I sat under that table and watched little Mary's hand stealing down with scraps for that Common cat. Once, I used to get all the scraps.
After a while, Mr. and Mrs. Denville came to the table, and then I had to listen to the whole story of the saintly Common cat, how little Mary had just seen her skulking about the Common, and had pointed her out to me. That the poor creature had run when any one went near her, and that early this morning when Mary woke up, there she was in the chair by her bed. ”

“ My mother and father and Jimmy Dory gazed curiously at little Mary, but they did not get up to speak to her. They cared nothing for her. Mrs. Darley was their mistress, and their eyes rested lovingly on her—but Serena went up and smelt the rich fur on her coat.
“Cats are very comfortable creatures,” said my little mistress, fondling me. “They don't worry us, and they creep up to us when we are in trouble.” ”

“ They have all been used to human beings. Cat society is not good enough for them.
Down below in the courtyard, for this is a dogs' home as well, we can hear the big animals crying out and howling. They are dreaming of their dear masters and mistresses. Oh! I hope Mrs. Darley knows about this sheltering home for animals, and that she will come in the morning to get me. Good night, dear father Piebald Prince, and Mother Dust-and-Ashes. I am not with you, but I hope you will sleep well, and not think about me. Good night, Serena, and Jimmy Dory. You are often provoking, but I love you both. ”

“ Just as I was giving up hope, the skylight opened again.
“There she is, sir,” I heard the old man say, then a young man put his head out, and looked at me.
He had a good face. I'm only a kitten, but I've found out that if a man spends his life in doing good, he has a good face.
I trusted him, and yet I was afraid to go to him, if you can understand that.
“Kitty,” he said soberly, “over there,” and he waved his hand toward the heart of the city, “is a place where lost dogs and cats are sheltered. ”

“ Jimmy Dory clapped his paws together. “Yes, yes, she should.”
Serena glared at him. “No, a thousand times no. Do not risk the Benjamin of the family in any wild and impracticable search for happiness. Rather let the young and frivolous creature remain within the circle of 126the sacred family. Let one of the older members heroically and generously offer herself on the altar of family affection. Let the kitten stay and comfort the declining years of its aged parents. Let the dear, sister cat go.” ”

“ BY THE FIRE My name is Pussy Black-Face, and I am a naughty young kitten. I wish I were good like my mother. She is the best cat that I ever saw. I try to be like her, and sometimes I succeed, but most times I don't.
My mother's disposition is really lovely, but then she has a weak back. It seems to me that if I had a weak back I should be good, too, but when there is a spring in my spine that makes me want to jump all the time, and something curled up in my paws that makes me want to seize things, what can I do? How can I be good? ”

“ Only Aunt Tabby, Slyboots and I sat on the fence.
239“Oh! this is awful!” I said. “Never in Boston, where cats are supposed to have such powerful voices, have I heard such yelling and caterwauling.”
“They had better look out,” remarked Aunt Tabby, “or the dogs will hear them. They are too near the house for such a racket.”
“Will any one come out alive?” I gasped. “Oh! this is terrible! Surely half will be crippled for life,” and I gazed in fascinated terror at the big, whirling, moving, hairy bunch of cat figures leaping, vaulting, yelling and spitting like furies. ”

“ MY SISTER GIVES A LECTURE The mole-hunt is over, and Serena is an enlightened cat. She says she wants to go back to the city. I wish I could get her there, for these country cats have covered her with confusion and mortification.
That old Blizzard is a reprobate. He was the originator of the whole thing. Slyboots is an immensely clever cat. She sees through him—she says he has been ruler and dictator in this country district for years. He heard that a bevy of Boston cats was coming. Fearing lest we should snatch his empire from him, he determined to deal us a crushing blow at first. ”

“ She has lots of scratches, and blood came out of them. Why haven't I any blood on me?”
“Because, kitten,” returned Mona calmly, “she knows how to fight, and you don't. This isn't her first battle. Some dogs fight that way. They'll injure you inside, so that you will nearly die, while other dogs merely rip your skin a little.”
“I think I'd rather be ripped than pounded on a marble hearth,” I said miserably.
“So would I,” said Mona. “You'll be a long time getting over this. However, you are a kitten and will recover more quickly than a cat would.” ”

“ Many things in the cat world are hidden from human beings. We suffer, and rejoice, and scheme and plan pretty much as the higher order of creation does. If only more people would take the trouble to study us. Serena says there is a whole book of cat psychology waiting for some one to open it and read aloud. Her theory is that all created things should work together, from kings to earth-worms. She says they were started to accomplish great things in unison, but some wicked people threw things out of joint. She is preparing a lecture on the subject for the Beacon Hill Angora Club. ”

“ Every step she took, the little clog flapped against her leg. She would stop to look at it and the rooster would stop to see why she wasn't coming.
Dear little Mary just shrieked at the guinea-hen's foolish actions. She was so boisterous in her mirth that soon she had all the family out in the back-yard. The men were coming home from work, and I think guinea was well paid for her unkindness. Everybody made fun of her, and finally she slunk away very quietly, and climbed to the top of an apple-tree. There is a wild streak in guinea-hens, and they hate hen-houses. ”

“ Is it like the Common?”
“Yes and no. There are huge green trees, and grass, and water, but the Common has no big things against the sky like great rows of houses with trees standing on the top of them.”
“Be more explicit, I beg of you,” she exclaimed irritably. “You are exceedingly confused in your statements.”
159“I will tell her, kitten,” interposed Mona in her calm voice. “Serena, we are just entering a long, flat valley with low ranges of hills on each side. The train is gliding among beautiful fields and orchards. Farm-houses are scattered here and there. ”

“ Don't let the new cat get ahead of you. You have the advantage, anyway. You are better bred, better looking and cleaner.”
“Those are not advantages,” I said sorrowfully; “those are disadvantages. The worse-looking a creature is, the better my dear Mary likes it.”
“Then clean up the cat, lick her, get her to hold herself up, and not sneak along the way she does.”
“Mona,” I said, “you are a good dog. I am much obliged to you for your advice, and I will run right up-stairs and see what I can do,” and I left her.
I did run up-stairs, but alas! I met Mary coming down to breakfast with the cat. ”

“ There is healing in your tongue.”
“Now put your head down, and go to sleep,” said Mona, “and I will watch, and see that no one disturbs you,” and she lay down in front of the kennel.
It is wonderful what a nap will do. In about an hour I awoke very much refreshed.
“Can you walk?” inquired Mona.
“Yes, pretty well,” I said, limping out of the kennel.
“Then creep up-stairs, see if the coast is clear to your room, and if the cat is still on your bed, come back and tell me.” ”

“ Mary smiled. “I see you understand me. To continue, Pussy, my father is what is called a banker. He was born in Maine, but he went to California as a young man. He married there, and we lived there until a few years ago, he and I, and dear mamma. Then we came 'East' as Californians say, for I had spinal disease, and I had to be taken to New York to see some clever doctors. Then I got better, and mamma took me to Europe. Papa bought this house, and when we came home we established ourselves here. Do you think you will like me, Pussy?” ”