Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1878-03-05
IRON the Golden Rule.
"Tona.


want you to know that this kitty Is still
living and doing, daily, many very funny
things and if Mr. Murray will let me, |
will tell you few Of them.
He came into the possession Of my
friends upon the death Of his master; and
every Sabbath morning, as regularly as
the church bells ring, this intelligent cat
walks quietly to the cemetery where his
late master is buried What he does
there is still mystery, for, strange to
say, no one has ever taken the trouble 70
watch him after he got there; but 1t
would not surprise me in the least to hear
that he put his paws to his eyes and wept
1t would be only one more instance OF his
remarkable intelligence
Tom is very regular in all his habits.
At precisely eight O'Clock each evening
he gets up frOm his little dOze upon the
rug, and walks to the door leading to his
sleeping apartments, with an air that
plainly ssys This Is the hour at which
all respectable cats retire open the door,
please"
1t Is really very singular that he never
makes mistake, and would seem TO in-
dicate that cats as well as crows can
count.
He also has very regular and amuse-
ing habit of seating himself in chair by
one particular window in the sitting-room
as soon as his dinner is finished No
ahead Of the household" ever seated him
self for his after.dinner smoke with more
regularity or apparent satisfaction than
Tom expresses, as he settles himself for a
quiet gaze out Of the window
One day it was discovered that strange
cat had located herself beneath the shed,
and shortly after she came forth with six
cunning kitties They were very Wild,
and would never allow any one TO approach
them and thus they passed their baby
hood days, after the manner Of cats.
Their mother came in time to consider
them large enough to provide for them
selves, and then II was that they began
to look very lean and hungry
Miss Ella pitied these wild little kittens
very much, so one day she carried cut
generous dish Of milk and set it down at
the end Of the stOop
Very soon the hungry kitties espied
the dish and gathered eagerly around it;
and Tom-roguish fellOw-soon eSpied
the assembled kitties He walked very
quietly to the end Of the step overlooking
them. and without 8 word Of warning,
boxed their ears soundly. OF course there
was a great scampering, but as Tom
showed no desire to appropriate their
dinner, their hunger soon overcame their
fear, and they all came back. Tom sat
watching them with an air Of the most
perfect unconcern, and showed not the
slightest desire TO modest them, till they
had all gathered around the dish and were
quietly eating, once more and then with
one sweeping blow he boxed them sound
ly, every one. Such scampering you
never saw and Tom Just sat there and
laughed; you could not call it any thing
else, the expression upon his face was
positively a laugh
The kitties were very hungry, 50 they
kept coming back, and although Tom
seemed to have 10 desire to take away
their dinner, be certainly enjoyed boxing
their ears.
At one time he had quite an idea Of
teasing his mistress and would sit upon
the stoop for an hour and watch for her
return from school, and the instant she
came in sight be would hide himself be-
hind the lockwood and as she passed it be
would Jump out with bound and catch
her securely by the dress. Tie seemed
particularly to enjoy this little game Of
an evening ; and would express a great
deal Of satisfaction If his mistress was
surprised into lively scream
Let his mistress attempt to eat any
thing Of which be was fond without shar-
ING with him and he would express great
indignation and if she persisted in this
very ungenerous conduct be would climb
upon the back Of her chair and place his
paw firmly over her mouth and this he
would persist IN doing until he was fed,
saying very plainly in his cat language,
"lf l can't have any you can't either
Tom loves music, but Is quite psrticu-
lar whs- kind OF music he hears One
day his mistress opened the organ and be-
gan TO play. Tom does not ike TO hear
that kind Of music, and in every possible
way he expressed his dissatisfaction and
tried to call his mistress away, but wish
ing to see what he would do she kept on.
At length he Jumped into chair which
she had placed beside her for his accom-
mediation, and put his paw firmly upon
her hands; but as she was the stronger
Of the two she still played on, though
somewhat at a disadvantage.
Grown desperate, Tom gave a spring
and landed upon the keyboard, where he
deliberately stretched himselfat full length.
Being an enormous fellow be thus efectu-
ally put stop to the music, and his mis-
tress willingly withdrew, feeling that be
had earned MS victory.
Wishing TO satisfy herself whether Tom
was in no mood for music or whether it
was the music Of the organ that ne OBJ
jected TO, Miss Ella went 10 the piano
and placing Toms chair beside the music
stool, sat down there to play. Tom
quietly took his accustomed seat be-
side her, and for hours sat watching her
g.. 18Th