The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1878-01-17
Muggridger's Cat, and the Trouble 1t
Brought to Mr.. Millikens.

too 1t had been perfectly empty, ana
Mr.. Millikens had just got it cleaned
and fixed up in time for the welcome
showers which filled it with an album
dance of nice pure water. And the next |
morning Mr.. Millikens delivered his
family touching lecture on the bless
ings of water, and in his beautiful and
vivid imagery, he quite surpassed the
Davidson fountain. And then when he
stopped the car at Maple Street night
before last and walked rapidly to his
happy home, how do you suppose he
felt when his staring children met him
at the gate and yelled in excited chorus
ooh pa, pa, pa, Mrs. Muggridger's
cat went and fell down our cistern and
drownedih
Mr.. Millikens always did hate that
cat of the Muggridgers'. A great brin-
died monster, with only one eye and the
hair scalded off its tail, it had killed
more chickens in the NIillikens' coops
than there are rats in Iowa, and many
time and oft, she had found her way
into the Millikens' cellar and filled her
bloated form with cream and sirloin
steaks. And Mr.. .Millikens could not
remember the number of times he had
sprained his arm and nearly threw his
shoulder out of joint in hurting bricks
at,that cat, which would sit on the back
fence, singing psalms and winking pla-
cidlv at. him with its lone eye,
and wondering what all the racket was
about. That cat had been the chairman
of the Anti Midnight District Central
1 fl. +
! tended more caucuses, and called more
conventions in Milliken's back yard
than it had hairs on its back. 1t had
made the summer nights burden to
Milikens all its life, and now it had
drowned itself in his cistern. 1t was a
piece of demoniacal spite work. You
couldn't make Millikins believe other
wise; there was terrible, fendish in
telligence in that cat, and its desire to
torment Milikins had been greater than
its love of life. Ever since Millikins
had scalded the hair off its tail he had
been expecting something like this.
If it had been a decent kind of cat,
he said, as he pulled on his coat, tucked
painful labor of emptying the cistern
with bucket, he might have stood it to
get the cat out and go on using the
water, but that one-eyed, rat tailed
} hideous, psalm-singer screecher, faugh
The disgusting thing; he would never
use the cistera again, he would fill it NJ
! as soon as he got the water out, anc
, would dig another one. Dog-gone the
, cat. he said. He toiled painfully on
| and the water grew low with terrible
slowness. He felt the bucket strike TIT
body of the floating cat several times
] but he hadn't hauled it up yet. HI
kept on Juggling at the bucket-rope til
his arms ached. And his back. Ant
7 his legs And his head.
, No, he snappishly told Mrs. Mill
: kens, in answer to her tenth summons
. that he wasn't coming to supper till h
had emptied this cistern. He didn'
4 care if it was spelling. What? Well
S let the flies eat every thing up, he didn'
5 care; he could eat the flies, he reckon
7 ed, sarcastically, couldn't hep Hey
e Well, he didn't care if it did take him
e week, he was going to keep at it till
: was emptied. Dog-gone the cat, h
Y wished it was Muggridger himself tina
It was in the cistern. Blast a cat, any
e how
: How he did haul water and splash hi
}, clothes and sweat and swear, and HOY
T the neighbours wives hung over the from
g fence and talked glibly to Mrs. Mill
d kens about the catastrophe, and how h
a wished they were all in with the cat
it And Mrs. Muggridger came and hun,
e over the fence and wept and told won
derful stories of that eats sagacity an
e its affection for children. ''Affectio
n for my Chickens Millikens muttereC
e And the women talked and jabbere
i and pitied Mrs. Muggridger more tina
l. if it had been one of the children ths
l. had been drowned. Millikens toile
II on, his face very hot at being made th
e focus of 50 many eyes. Dog-gone th
st dog-goned cat to thunder, he said, wit
ie considerable asperity. How he did hat
is eats, he said.
1t The cistern was getting pretty 10
r now. The sun had gone down benin
lie the western hills in a glory of peacefl
II splendor, and the ruddy tints of the d
l. ing day touched the clouds and sky wit
If a serene solemn beauty almost too eth
ID rial to hang over world tinted with Il
1T blight of sin and one-eyed cats. II
IN noisy prattlers at the front fence felt Il
Y halIowed influence of the hour al
0, silence laid her fingers to her lips. On
Il Millikens stentorous breathing and Il
Ee plash, of the bucket broke the oppressi
of silence. Thank heaven, Milikens sighe
lr it is nearly empty.
st I" MiGu-CW-ow-oow!"
ur A weird, unearthly shrek that curdl
ed the blood in the bravest heart, and ma
lie Millikens drop bucket, rope and eve
&C. thing down into the cistern. He sto'