The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-09-13


land is as cheap in this country as it
: now, there is no good excuse for the wi
: ful idleness and impudent pauperism til,
: Iprevail.--,St. LOUIS Republican
The Deacon's Cat.
3, Teddy was known everywhere as IL
} Deacon's cat. The Deacon had brougl
him up from kittenhood, and used ofte
to boast that Teddy knew quite as muc
as some children.
\, The cat had history, too. The De,
con, once upon time, was seen goin
down to the river, q bag on his shouldt
, with big stone in it, followed for som
j distance by two chubby children, cryin
; Justify. Twice did the Deacon put dow
the bag, which moved in spite of the stont
and mewed piteously, to chase the chi
dren home, but they still followed, thoug
at q greater distance, and still cried, ii
the Deacon and the empty bag came bac
Z then they yelled.
On the following morning the Deaco
heard his little ones talking together in S
soft and subdued q manner that he wa
tempted to listen. y "
4 See it cuddlel Oh, amt you glad p
I" Yes, amt it p'ettyf It's all gray
Let's put 1t in box
i Where'd you find it?''
Under the hay. l guess old Gait,
thought she'd hide it, don't you? Pap,
ketcned four, and there was five of 'em
We won't tell him, cause he'll drown i
if we do.n = as
IS The Deacon laughed and sat down t.
think. 1t would never do to let the boy,
Il of hat s. II.
that johnny ate only half of his milk
and Dicky saved aslice Of his bread h.
set his wits to work.
mother ?" he asked The Deacon had
never studied Lindley's grammar.
Johnny looked up in nervous terror
His brown eyes dilated
almost wish you had left one," said
the good woman, who had received her
lesson. "The children like pet, you
! know"
"Ishould think they had more nets
now than they could care for" was the
| response. So
F. .sNo, we 'ain't,,' in intelligent chorus,
Il didn't search the straw" continued
the Deacon, with twitching lips, "but if
l thought there was one there''-
:, "No, there amt, he's gone!, cried
johnny.
ten asked the Deacon, in assumed as
Constituent. go 5;s&
n Z. Because if you did, you can keep it,"
said the mother, seeing scared denial
visible in both faces. ws ss
t.Oh, it's jes' as nice and soft as it can
beP' cried Johnny, SO happy that he
trembled. May / go up and get its It's
almost smothered in box.''
t.All right, +" said the Deacon, as grave
ly as he could. :. You may keep It, and
I think you had better let old pussy have
it for while, or it will starve to death. -
ID So the kitten was saved, and grew and
thrived as the boys did, and at six years
of age, when Johnny was twelve and
Dicky wasten, there was not handsomer
+ gray cat in all Allentown. Even the
Deacon was proud Of it, and used to show
off its wonderful tricks, and tell how Ted
was saved from an early death by them
two boys of his" 4
One hot summers Sabbath following
. week of hard work at haying, the deacon
went to church alone. His wife was visit
ing in neighboring city with her sister,
and the boys were away at school
n Now the Deacon had one failing;
he would sleep in church in drowsy
weather, as he called hot spell. His
wife was Obliged to exercise the utmost
diligence In order to keep him half
awake, if no more. and her greatest anx-
iety on leaving home was on this &C.
count.
Ithappened that day there was astrange
minister, 40 old man with sermon that
extended to the !" "fifthlies." At about
the !" thirdly" the Deacon fell asleep.
The pews directly in front and directly
behind him were empty, for the old
preacher was not favorite, so there was
no one to nudge the Deacon even when he
.snored. 81 *
8 somewhere about " fourthly," !" there ap-
peared ON the window-sill, !, at the end Of
the Deacon's pew, a huge, handsome
gray cat. Pussy looked around with an
expression Of intelligence that was praise
worthy in deacon's cat Everybody
knew him, and the congregation smiled.
But pussy was not content with his
perch. In 3 slow and cautious manner,
after q sidelong gaze at the speaker, he
crept down into the pew, smelled of the
hymn book, and was lost to further Wis
ion until be reappeared, creeping softly
up the DeacOn's arm, and finally seated
himself with an air of feline triumph
sanarely on his shoulder spurring content
And still he edid .nos wake,
The minister brought out his q fifthly,a
and pussy looked at him with quiet
blinkS. There he sat in sight of all the
laughing boys, and there the Deacon slept,
his head thrown backand his mouth open.
4 say the minister procees!ed with the