Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-09-25
How Cat Made Use of Her Reason.

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| a correspondent Of Nature tells the
following story Of feline intelligence: !:
MANY years ago we lived in Cambridge,
NJ the back OF Emmanuel College. The
premises were partly cut off from the
road by II high wall the BODY Of the
house stood back some little distance.
a hIgh treliis, dividing off the garden.
ran from the entrance door 10 the wall.
In winch was another door, or gate. A
portion OF the house. n gable. faced the
trellis. These particulars are necessary.
AS you will see.
We were, after some time Of residence
extremely troubled by runaway-bell-
rings, generally most prevalent nt
night, and in rainy, bad or cold weather.
which was great annoyance 10 the ser
want girls, who had 10 cross the space
between the house and the wall. 10 open
the ou er door in the l,tler, and were
thus exposed 10 wet and cold. The an
noyance became 80 great that at length
cousin and myself armed with wicked
,sii saplings, watched behind tue trees,
hrHt ON administering "A sound thrash
iu2 70 the enemy, whoever lie was, that
disturbed our domestic peace. The
ings continued, but no one pulled the
bell handel Being very old house,
hoy were now Of course set down 70
ghosts But not believing in those
gentry, ! was puzzled. Chance. how
ev'r, revealed the originator Of the
scare.
Bein4 Ill was confined TO the wing
facing the trellis, and one r. iserable,
blowing. wet day, gazing disconsolately
ont OF th1 window, espicd my favorite
cat~.a singularly intelligent animal,
much petted-coming al ng the path,
wet, draggle-tailed, and miserable
Pussy marched up 10 the houge-door,
sn f-d at J., pushed il, m wed. but find
ing II firmly shut, clambcrcd up To the
top of the trcllis some eight or ten feet
from the ground. reached paw over the
edg". scratched till she found the bell
wire which ran along the upper rail
from the wall to the house, caught hold
Of it gave it a hearty pull, then jumped
down, and waited demurely At the door.
Out came the maid. in rushed puss. The
former, after gazing vaguely up and
down the street, returned, muttering
. blessings" no doubt. on the ghost, TO
bc confronted by me in the hall
Well, Lydia, have at last found
out who rings the bell" Lard. mas
ter! ye harvent, surely she was broad
"Zamerzetsheer." Il have; come and
see. Look out Of the breakfagt-room
window. but don't show yourself"
Meanwhile / went into the drawing
room, where Mrs. Puss was busy drying
herself before the fire Catching her
up, popped her outside Of the door and
ran round 20 my post Of observation.
Puss tried the door and mewed,
thinking. probably. some one must be
near. and after waiting two or three
minutes in vain, again sprang UP the
trellis and renewed her attack upon the
bcll-wire. Of course 10 be Immediately
admitted by the delighted maid, who
this time did not cross the yard, nor
never again, fear sometimes 10 the in
convenience of visitors. If puss was
waiting for admission.
Now think that no one ever taught
that cat how to ring the bell by pulling
the wire. To my mind she must have
gone through the following process Of
reasoning: /. She noticed whenever
the bell rang the door opened. 9. In
clalnbcring up the trellis To the house
top she accidentally moved the wire,
and caused the bell TO ring This prob
ably occurred several times before she
noticed 1t. but having once done so, she
repeated IL. purposely, whenever she
wanted entrance; ] have often made her
do it for the amusement Of friends by
turning her out from her snug nest by
the fire on cold or wet days.