Middletown transcript., 1881-08-12
A CAT STORY.

go where you will outside of the dirt
city, and you will see the woman witt
q tin pan and an old butcher knife il
!, her hand, and shawl over her head
down on her knees in the fence corners
gathering various weeds that are no
; worth a continental at any other sea
son, for "greens. 1t is possible W.
> may be week too early in this article
but it is habit of ours to write al
article on greens every spring, and il
, the spring is late it is no fault of ours
If the woman is not out with the tir
pan and butcher knife to-day, she will
be next Saturday, anyway. What
maccaroni is to the italian, frogs to the
3 Frenchman, roast beef to the English.
man, sauer kraut to the German, rice to
the Cinnamon, oat meal to Scotchmen
and potatoes to the Irishman, greens are
to the American.
Greens may be called our national
beverage.
Rich and poor alike come to their
greens. We presume, Vanderbilt, after
living on the fat of the land for year.
would enjoy going to a farm house at
his old home, and sitting down to a
" boiled dinner' of green's. If he would
not, and enjoy them, as he thought of
old times, and of the friends of his
childhood, then he is no friend of ours.
and we wouldn't trust him for pew
rent. Greens are made of everything
that grows wild except burdock and
mullen leaves, and we have heard of
those vegetables being used, though not
successfully. Speaking of green's re-
minds us of an incident Many. many
years ago, before the gray hairs had be-
come so numerous on our mothers
head, and before our fathers back
ached so cruelty from the rheumatic
pains, our family moved from Cold
Spring to White Water, five miles, and
after the house was settled, we were
sent back to the old home after the
family cat. We were to bring her in a
pillow case. We found the cat wan
dering around, and she seemed offended
at being left in the general breakup.
1t was long time before she would
converse with us at all. She seemed to
feel that she had been deserted and left |
to the cold charities of the world. and |
her temper never was any of the best,
anyway, but she finally compromised,
and by a good deal of diplomacy, we got
her by easy stages into the pillow case,
and gently throwing it on our back we
started for home. 1t is no pleasant ex-
cursion or picnic for a twelve-year-old
boy to carry full grown cat in bag,
and we should not choose that method
of enjoyment if we had it to do over
again, but boy will do many things to
keep out of school. He will be willing
to do anything but have the mumps.
Well, everything passed comparatively
pleasant until half the distance was
passed
The dear old cat seemed to have gone
asleep in the small of our back.
We were trudging merriIy along, oc-
casionally stubbing bare toe nail on
root, and easing up stone bruise on
one heel by walking on the toes, when
the church spires of White Water ap-
peared in sight. o, if we only had a
picture of ourself about six minutes
later. In the midst of this quietness a
dog belonging to farmer came out and
began to bark. We could feel the cat ]
begin to get anxious. The cat, we !
may remark, was not more anxious
than we were. The dog came nearer {
and snarled, and we could feel the cat ,
raise to its feet in the pillow case and t
get its back up. The way we knew the
Eat raised to its feet was the fact that t
every toe nail the cat possessed was t
irmly implanted in our back. G
The pillow case seemed full of cats ! :
We never had an idea that a cat had !
is many toe nails. The dog barked and f
he cat pur-moWed, +" and walked up S
md down us. 1t was trying moment. O
It was question how far the dog a
would follow, and how long we could a
tand the ceaseless tread of the cat. We d
AVE been in battle and heard the bull f
cts whistle, and listened to the groans a
f the dying, when we expected every S,
leXt bullet would go into our manly is
rame and start lead mine, but we O
ever experienced as much agony, fear Il
nd sorrow as we did when that cat
'as using our back for fence to get
is back up at dog. Then we began II
D reflect that cat was nothing for k
oy to die for. There were plenty of cats W
be got in White Water, and what IL
as the use of Juggling a cat SO far. p;
hen we dropped the pillow case, and M
le dog saw that there was something til
live in it, and he chewed the cat, and g
len the cat got out of the bag and g1
lased the dog through the marsh, and sn
e do not know but they are running to
It, though if she ever catches him it an
going to be real warm around where of
S tail was when We saw him last. du
venty-five years ago this spring. Then of
e went out on the marsh and picked CT
e pillow case full of -cow-slips for 'st
eens, as sort of peace offering at In
me, and marched ON. Our mother pls
IS sorry that the cat had not arrived. CHI
it proceeded to "pick over'' the cow Tt
ps. For an hour the work went on, a /
It'll there seemed, down at the bottom wa
the pillow case, to be evidences that ct
,at had been there. There were in
v hairs, at first, but we denied that lip
had ever seen the cat, and offered str
bring witnesses that we could not Sal