Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-01-28
A SHARP TRANSACTION.
How commodore Stewart Sold a
Rocky Mountain MOuser.

| How Commodore Stewart Sold 6
Rocky Mountain MOuser.
jim Stewart, sometimes called the "Com
modore," is the most noted darkey in Erie.
| He is a good natured, shreWd sort of a fel
| low, somewhat addicted to doing bushes:
| now and then in the Jeremy Didler style
as the following incident will testify:
| Living near the residence Ofthe Hon. Nor
row G. Lowry, he was frequently employed
| by the latter to do odd jobs about he house
and in the garden. One day Mrs. Lowry
concluded that the peccadillOes of worth
| less tom cat, long an attache of the family
were such as demanded the intiCtion of
capital punishment, and Jim was called up
| on to play the part Of eXeCutiOner. After a
! long chase the victim was captured and put
| in a basket, over which an old shawl was
| securely fastened. The next move was, how
| to dispose of the prisoner. Mrs L. suggested
! drowning, but Jim, with tears in his eyes
protested that he could no more drown the
! cat than he could drown himself: that, were
| he to do so, his conscience, acting On a nat
uralIv tender heart, would trouble him so
| much at nights, that he was sure he could
never be able to sleep. a wink thereafter.
! Not wishing to ruin Jim's peace of mind
| Mrs. L. compromised the matter by giving
him a dellar, and directing him to dispose
of it any way he pleased, so that she should
never see it again. Putting the dollar in
his pocket and the basket under his arm,
Jim started down town. He had not gone
out of sight of the house when he met Nor
row, walking leisurely towards his home,
when the following colloquy ensued:
Morow-HellO, Jim, what have you got
there?
Jim-One OBJ de celebrated Rocky Noun
tains cats, sab.
MOrrow-A Rocky Mountain cat? Why,
Jim, where did You get him?
JIM, gOlly, sab, Didn't you heah OBJ de
big bunch Oh dem cats come to town yester-
day from KlafOrny, sab? Bes mousers in
de wurl, sab; and dis is de biggest and bes
one of de lot, sab. Dey are gwine to give
me fOah dollahs for him at de Reed House,
sab.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the general cuss-
edness" of the family cat)-Jim, we want
a good cat up home, and | guess I'll take
this fellow; but-but-don't you think four
dollars is steep for cat?
Jim-Why, all de res sold for five dollahs,
sab.
the price asked, and told him to carry the
Rocky Mountain cat' up to Mrs. Lowry.
Jim had, however, very important business
elsewhere, and he begged Morrow to take
the basket himself, which the latter consent
ed to do. Arriving at home, he took his
prize into the sitting room carefully closed
the doors, slightly lifting the basket covering,
and smiling benevolently at hrs LIS appar-
ent astOnahment, remarked:
"My dear, have brought you a Rocky
Mountain cat-the best mOuser."
At this moment the cat jumped out Of the
basket and commenced rubbing himself
against his masters legs. Morrow stopped
short, and his wife broke in impatiently.
LA me, Morrow, Why that's the same
old cat gave Jim Stewart a dollar to drown,
not ten minutes ago"
What followed we know not, but few
minutes later the Hon. Morrow c Lowry
might have been seen on the streets of Erie,
armed with a walking-stick, and wondering
''why a man can never find that nigge =
when he wants to see him badly"