The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1883-03-29
THE CATS REVENGE.


Freddy was very fond of CATS especially kit
tens. At least. he said he was, and he ought to
have known. But am afraid that if the ats
and especially the kittens, had been asked, il
cat-talk, what they thought of freddy, they
Wou all have meow d in concert and with
out one dissenting voice: - He is q MONASTERY
Freddy's papa haa a private convection that
his son was going to be the great inventor OF
the age. SO far the inventions had all been,
ID one way or another, connected with cats
Ihere had been a Neutrality-suspicious. and a
churn and wood-sawing machine, all to be
worked by cat-rower; the working models
only required from one to four cats apiece
but the real mach mes, Freddy said, would
need "A million cats apiece, except the churn;
thousand and one would do for that
Freddy came into his mothers room one
day, carrying the smallest kitten by the tail
and saying:
Mamma, million XII tens fastened by their
talls like this, to a parallel bar, would Leaf
tae best horse-rake that ever was made; you
claw, like thsI"
Mrs. Hurst, Freddys mamma, pouneed upon
MIN as II he had been mouse AMI she had
been cat, exclaiming, with tears in her eyes
Freddy! You cruel, cruel boy! Tut
that poor little kitten down instantly, and go
and stand on one loot in the corner as long as
You possibly can, upon your honorl''
It was not against the rules to talk, 50 when
ne nad stood for five minutes, he said:
Mamma, do you suppose Arethusa felt like
this when carried her by the tail?'
che felt much worse" said his mother
gravely. Her head felt just as yours feels
Wnen !ou stand on it o long, AMI her tail
her body. - -
well, I'll try to remember" said Freddy.
thnoughtiully; but their tails look like
IF there were such things as giants without
ears, replied his mother, "they wouI1 prob.
ably think that your ears were meant for
How @o ana go GarrynE you around by them
Il don't know" said he. 'lnever tried il, -
and 3ust then he tottered and chopped" aus b .
called It, against the wall, and so he came
sunny out of the corner and went for his
over. -l1+FT -erfs+ -
Perhaps you will think that the cats had a
Vada ion' at leastfor the rest of that day? Oh,
1t was after dinner and Mrs. Hurst was writ
ing letter.
letter, that she really thought Freddy under
stood, at last, how much pa II he gave the cats
Dy MS experiments, and that she hoped to have
no more trouble about it, when a wild ad nm
earthly howl, such as only Freddy knew how
TO give, made her drop her pen and III sh acl oss
the yard towards thehowl. ttf.&
Freddy was hanging from the appIe-tree, not
Dy ms neck, but by his wrist, which he b I'd
somehow caught in a slip-knot of his own
making. The other end OF the rope was Sc
cure.y fastened to the bOugh. His feet almost
touched the ground, so Mrs. Hurst easily lifted
him enough 10 loosen the knot and free him;
she feared at nrst that b s wrist was either
broken or sprained, but aft cling it gently
rubbed and bruised, and was about to conduct
MIN to the arnied bottle, when a pitiful stme-
owl! just above her head made her look
suddenly up, and there was one of the uu-
happy kittens tied nto what 10 ked like n
herself
Mrs. Hurst mounted an old chair which
stood under the tree, detached the net with tN o
gorous pu Is. aud then sat down on the
ground with the whole thing in her lap, and
gently released the imprisoned kitten, which
had been fastened in by lacing the two q jpes
of the net together, and in her struggles md
caught her claws in the most uncomfortable
manner.
"lts her hammock, mamma" explained
reddy. forgetting to cry any more; 'and
didn't tie her; | only tied the hammock so
her." @t
IAN say to you about your cruelty to the
cats seems to do no good, Freddy answered
his mother, sorrowfully. $50 inste ad of pun
ishng you any more, think Unjust send t. EN-
all away. Come in and have your wrist
bathed now, before it begins 10 swell; and
then wish you to stop playing for an hour
and go somewhere quite alone and think
Now this made Freddy feel very forlorn and
forsaken. Hes Nv. b. the grave, h ;Irt 10 * IDon
her face. that he had made her e Y unhappy:
so d went out of the room without word
oId Nancy, the cook, was in the k tc en- pan
try beating Maryland biscuit and singing ike
q who,e camp-meet ng; 50 Ere ldy decided
upon the kitchen for the thinking groun1. Tho
humping and singing would keep him from
teeling utterly lonesome and deserted
He thought it would be easier to tn nix if he
ga q his thouk hts aloud, so he began:
Frederick Hurst aren't you very much
asname d? You ought to be. I'm glad you
cat S tail telt. Perhaps it felt worse, bet ause
It's sofull of joints. What will you do if ali
the cats go away2 | tn nix will go on think
ing Iald down on this shelf Mamma did not
say must stand up to do it. It's only eh ck-
en-feed in the bag; it's quite nice t, r an l.
low. And I'll he very careful and not put my
ieet In the frying-pan. It's nice ard warm
Eere, and like to hear the kittle ng. II
purringr'
And that was the last of Freddy's thinking,
for he was fast asleep. But he did not know
IT. 1t teemed to him that the stove had
changed into long, black sofa. and the kettle
into the cat Douglas. And presently the whole
family or cats, from Lady Blanche down to
the smallest kitten. came in, one after the
other, and sat solemnly down in a row. and
each one stared at him so hard that he began
IoIeel very uncomfortable. Presently Douglas
Ladies and gentlemen" he said. "our
enemy is at last in our power, and [ have a
suggestion to make to you. 1t seems to me
that he would be suitably punished were eafh
OF us to do to him, for half an hour, precisely
what he has done to us-that u.s. as nearly az
possible, for unfortunately, he has no TAIL
Are you all agreed to this25
AND the whole ten answered soIemnly, and
IN one NEW: =" We are all agreed
They all rose from the sofa as they spoke,
and Freddy sud eniy observed that he him
self, was no taller than the smallest kitten had
been, that the kit IN was exactly as tall as he
usually was, and that the other kitten and the
cats were tall proportion sE
DouglG sWas the largest, and he was at least
six Fl ct high.
He stood on his hind legs and picked Freddy
up with his fore-paws, holding him head
downward, and squeezing him intentionally
hard as he did so.
Poor little thingi Dear little thing!" said
Douglas, in soothing voice, and rubbing
Freddys hair the wrong way as he spoke.
. Come out in the yard and play"
And outinto the yard he marched, swinging
Freddy by one leg: In vain Freddy squirrned
and screamed. His screams sounded to him
IKE faint mewing, and he was powerless in
those great paws. .rf7fi
Douglas sat down in the swing, and, holding
II eddy, still upside down in his arms, began
swinging and singing. The motion and posi-
ton together made Freddy dreadfulIy sick
and dizzy. but he had never felt so utterly
helpless in his life, SO he lay still, except for
faint moan now and then, Although he
tremDled to think what might happen next, he
vas thankful when Douglas suddenly jumped
Up and banded hiua to Mint, saying:
" It's your turn now; we d better not be too
long arout IT, for II ar ne should wake before
" a N Ad -