The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-12-21
BAKERS CAT.
BY MARX TWAIN.


gnlcI. Whenever he was out Of luck
and a little down hearted he would fall
to mourning over the loss Of wonder
fnl cat he used.t to own for, where Wom-
Oh and children are not, men Of kindly
impulse took up with pets. for they
must love something). And he always
spoke of the strange sagacity Of that
cat with the mir Of man who believed
III his secret heart that there was some
thing human about it-mavbe even su-
pcrnatnral.
heard him talking about this animal
once He said: Gentlemen, used to
have cat here by the name Of Tom
Quartz. which you'd took an interest
III, | reckon most anybody would
had him here eight years-and he was
the markablest cat ever see. He was
large gray one. Of the Tom specie. and
lie had more hard, nat'ral sense than
any man in this camp-and power Of
dignity he wouldn't let the Gov'nor Of
California be familiar with him. He
never ketcled rat in his life-'peared
to he above it. He never cared for
nothing but mining. He knowed more
about mining, that cat did, than any
man l ever see. You couldn't tell him
nothing about placer diggings- and as
for pocket mining, why he was just born
for it.
He would dig out after me and Jim
when we went over the hills prospect
ing and he would trot along behind us
for rs much Us five miles, if we went so
far. And he had the best Judgment
about mining ground--why you never
see anything like it. When We went to
work he'd scatter glance around. and
If he didn't think much of the indica-
tons. he would give lis a look rs much
rs to say; Well, I'll have to get you to
excuse me- aud without another word
he'd hyste his nose up III the air and
shove for home. But if the ground
suited him he would lay low and keep
dark till the first pan was washed. and
then he would sidle up and take look,
and il there was about six or seven
grains of gold he was satisfied-he
didn't want any better prospect n that
and then he would lay down on our
coats and snorc like steamboat till
we'd struck the pocket, and then get up
and snperintend.
We'll, bv-and-by. mp comes this
quartz excitement. Everybody was into
it; everybody was picking and blasting,
instead Of shoveling dirt on the hillside;
everybody was putting down shaft in
stead of scraping the surface. Nothing
would do Jim but We must tackle the
lodges too, and SO We did. We COM
menced putting down shaft. and Tom
Quartz began to wonder what in the
dickens it was all about He hadn't
ever seen any mining like that before,
and lie was all upset, rs You may say.
He couldn't come to the right under
standing of it no wav-it was too many
for him. He was down on it, too, You
bet-he was down on it powerful-nnd
always appeared to consider it the GUS
sedest foolishness out.
But that cat, yon know-he was al
ways agin new tangled arrangements
somehow he never could abide EN-.
You know how it is with old habits.
But by-and-by Tom Quartz begin to Git
sort Of reconciled little, though he
never could altogether understand the
eternal sinking Of shaft and never
panning ont anything. At last he got
to coming down the shaft hisself to try
to cipher it out And when he'd get
the blues, and feel kind o scurvv. ag-
gravated and disgusted-knowing. rs
he did, that the bills was running up
oil the time and We warn't making
cent-he would curl up in gunnv sack
in the corner and go to sleep. Well,
one day when the shaft was down about
eight feet, the rock got SO hard that we
had to put in blast-the first blasting
we'd ever done since Tom Quartz was
born.
And then we lit the fuse and clumb
out and got off about fifty vards-and
forgot and left Tom Quartz asleep on
seen puff of smoke bust up out of the
hole, and then everything let go with an
awful crash. and about four million tons
of rock and dirt and smoke and splin-
tiers shot up about mile and half
into the air, and by George. right in
the midst of is was old Tom Quartz GO
ing end over end. and q snorting and a
clawing and reaching for things like all
possessed but it warn't no nse. you
know; it warnt no use. And that was
the last We see of him for about two
minutes and q half, and then all Of
sudden it began to rain rocks and rub
bage, and directly he come down kerr
whop about ten feet from where we
stood.
well, reckon he was p'raps the
orneriest looking beast ever see. One
ear was set back on his neck, and his
tail was stove up, and his eve-winkers
was swinged off. and was all blackened
up with powder and smoke, and all
sloppy with mud and slush from one
end to the other. Well. sir. it warn't
no use to apologize-we couldn't say
word He took sort OF disguised look
at hisself, and then he looked at us, and
it was inst exactly the same as if he had
said: Gents, maybe you think it's
smart to take advantage of cat that
amt had no experience Of quartz min
ing. but think different'-anl then he
turned on his heel and marched off
home without ever saying another
word.
That was inst his style. And may
be you won't believe it, but after that
YOU never see q cat SO prejudiced agin'
quartz mining as what he was. And
by-and-by when he did get to going
down in the shaft agin', you'd been
astonished at his sagacitv. The minute
we'd touch off blast aud the fused be-
gin to sizzle. he'd give look rs much
as to say: Well. I'll have to get Won to
excuse me-, and it was surprising the
way he'd skin out Of that hole and 90
for tree. Sagacity? 1t amt no maine
for it. Twas inspiration"
1 said: well, Mr. Baker, his preiu-
dice against quartz mining was remark
able, considering how he came by it.
Couldn't You ever cure him of it?
Cure him! No. When Tom Quartz
was sot once he was always sot
You might blow him up as much as
three million times and he would be
agin' quartz mining"
The affection and pride that lit mp
Bakers face when he delivered this
tribute to firmncss Of his humble friend