Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-03-06
TOM IND .FRIZZLE.
MAUD MEREDITH.

MAUD MEREDITH.
Tom has the sharpest claws, and the
Wickedest teeth Of any cat I ever saw.
what treasure. all the neigh
boris said, when Tom would deposite
an old rodent or fat field mouse just
outside the porch door. and he was
always bringing them, so you see he
had lots Of compliments. But Tom
never thought to be vain. He was
very wise anyway and could be talked
to SO much; if he did not understand
all we said he did some Of it, for when
we bought Dick, a beautiful German
canary, we told Tom all about it, and
he never offered to catch the bird. but
would drive all the other cats out of
the yard first send them spinning,
and how the cats would go over the
back yard fence when he skurried after
them and we always thought it was
to save Dick.
I think the most wonderful feat he
ever performed was to catch a chicken
hawk.
Wonder how! Tom used to enjoy
sitting upon the fence, and watching
the little chickens. When he was
small, he tried to catch one. and his
mistress, to teach him better, pounded
him on his head with new tin pan.
I guess it did not hurt much, but it
made an awful noise, and ever after
that he would, shake his head when
ever he saw chicks, climb up, ONE
where, and sit and look down. So this
day he was up on the end of pile of
boards. I presume out of sight, for the
hawk bounced down, and had just set
it's sharp talons into the poor chick.
while there was a great f1uttering and
screaming all over the poultry yard,
when down came Tom, great heavy
fellow that he was. and set his teeth
into the back of the hawks neck.
Brother Charlie saw it all, and ran
out and helped Tom. l made a little
buster of the long white hawk feath-
ers, and saved it in honor of Toms
bravery.
But he could also be gentle and kind,
and when Frizzle came. he took him
for a play-fellow and never harmed so
much as hair of his bushy tail.
T., Frizzle you see was squirrel, a
little striped s. chipmunk, that Tom
brought one day, and when Charlie
said, ':Tom! let me have your SOUR
rel,' he let go of him, and off the lit
tie fellow ran like flash, around the
stove to where Charlie had just set
his boots to dry, for it was rainy day
in Spring, and down he went in one of
them.
Then we sat an empty bird cage On
the floor. placed the boot in front of
the door, raped on it, and away went
chippy into the cage.
He was wild at first. and a little
lame, for Tom had hurt him some,
but he soon got well, and grew real
tame.
We called him Frizzle or Fritz, and
he would prick up his cunning little
ears, and look about when we called
him.
We used to set the cage on the flo OF
and let Tom see it; afterwards we let
Friz out about the room, and in time
he and the cat would play together.
And such funny places as Friz would
hide, but Tom would hunt him and,
with velvet paws give him pat, to
let him know he was found out, then
Fritz would whisk off with loud
ch-u-r-r, and scamper all over the
chairs and sewing machine, and once
he ran out on the top of the bird S
cage, and scared poor Dick almost to
death.
When Tom would curl up on the
low stove hearth in the kitchen and
feign sleep, Frizzle would whisk over
and over him and at last bite his ears,
for which he would often get a cuff
that sent him out into the middle of
the floor.
We kept FrizZle for a long time but
one unlucky day he ran off over the
garden fence just for race, and went
very near to great gray cat that
looked precisely like Tom. There was
whisk and a snap and away went
puss with poor FriZZle in her mouth,
and we could not catch her, though we
raced half across the pasture. So we
never saw Frizzle again.
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