The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-03-03
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 cats,
and especially the kittens, had been asked, in
eat-talk, what they thought of freddy, they
wou all have meow in concert, and with
out one dissenting voice: He is a MoNsTERp
Freddy's papa had private conviction that
his son was going to be the great inventor of
the age. So far the Inventions had all been,
in one way or another, connected with cats.
There had been a thrashing machine and
churn and wood-sawing machine, all to be
worked by cat-power; the working models
only required from one to four cats apiece,
but the real mach nes,. Freddy said, would
need "a mllllon cats apiece, except the churn;
thousand and one would do for that.
Freddy game into his mothers room one
day, carrying the smallest kitten by the tail,
and saying:
Mamma, million XII tens fastened by their
tails ike this, to parallel bar, would beat
the best horse-rake that ever was made; you
must hang 'em SO that they can just reach to
| claw, like th.S!"f
Mrs. Hurst, Freddy's mamma, bounced upon
him as If he had been mouse and she had
been cat, .eXclatming, with tears in her eyes:
80 Freddy You cruel, cruel boy! Put
that poor little kitten down instantly, and go
and stand on one foot in the corner as long As
| you possibly can, upon your honor!'
| 1t was not against the rules to talk, so when
| he had stood for five minutes, he said
Mamma, do you suppose Arethusa felt like
this when carried her by the tail?
"She felt much worse" said his mother,
gravely. Her head felt just as yours feels
when you stand on it to long, and her tail
ached wlth.your pinching and the weight of
"Well, I'll try to remember" said Freddy,
thoughrlully; but their tails look like
handlesi"
''If there were such things as giants without
ears, replied his mother, ''they would prob
ably think that your ears were meant for
handles hand ana go carrying you around by them.
Idont know" said he 81 never tried it,"
and just then he tottered and ''hopped," as he
called it, against the wall, and so he came
| st1fty out of the corner and went for his
KISS, which meant that the punishment was
| over.
Perhaps you will think that the cats had
vacation, at least for the rest of that day? Oh.
| indeed!
1t was after dinner and Mrs Hurstwas writ
| ing q letter.
She was just telling Freddy's aunt, in this
| letter, that she really thought Fred y under
| stood, at last, how much pam he gave the cats
| by his experiments, and that she hoped to have
| no more trouble about it, when wild a. d un-
earthly howl, such as only Freddy knew how
| to give, made her drop her pen and rush across
| the yard towards the howl.
Freddy was hanging from the apple-tree, not
| by his neck, but by his wrist which he had
somehow caught in slip-knot of his own
making. The other endof the rope was Sc
| cureiy 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 first that wrist was either
! broken orsprained, but aft f. ell ny it gently
| and carefully, she decided that it was only
rubbed and bruised, and was about to conduct
him to the arnica bottle, when pitiful me
| OWL just above her head made her look
| suddenly up, and there was one of the un-
| happy kittens tied nto what looked like
| small tishlng-net, and vainly struggling to free
| herself.
| Mrs Hurst mounted an old chair which
stood under the tree, detached the net with two
| vigorous pulls. and 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 edges
! of the net together and in her struggles had
caught her claws in the most uncomfortable
| manner
"lts her hammock, mamma" explained
! Freddy, forgetting to cry any more; land /
| didn't tie her; | only tied the hammock so
that she shouldn't jump out when 1 swung
| her."
IAN say to you about your cruelty to the
lis mother sorrowftlIy 80 instead Of Dun
ishng you any more, think must send item
| all away. Come in apd have your wrist
bathed now, before it begins to swell; and
then wish you to stop playing for an hour
and go somewhere quite alone and think"
Now this made Freddy feel very forloGn and
the hurt
| so b went ont of the room without word.
| Old Nancy, the cook, Wtis in the k tcAen pan
try beating Maryland biscuit and singing like
whole camp-meet ng; so Freddy decided
upon the kitchen for the thinking ground. The
| humping and singing would keep him from
feeling utterly lonesome and deserted.
|
sa his thous hts aloud, so he began
| 'tred-er-ick Hurst! aren't you very much
ashamed? You ought to be. I'm glad you
mo1w bow
| its so full of joints. What will you do if all
the cats go away? / tn nix Twill go on think
say must Stand up to do it. It's only oh ok
| en-feed, in,the bag: it 5 quite nice + a pl-
| low. And I'll he very careful and not put my
feet in the fryngpan. It's nice and warm
! / Ia Ia m
sounds little like purring. y Perhaps it's
| purring!'
And that was the last of Freddys thinking,
| Tor he was fast asleep. But he did not know
| 1t. 1t seemed to him that the stove had
changed into long, black sofa, and the kettle
! into the cat Douglas. And presently the whole
family of cats, from Lady Blanche down to
the smallest kitten, came in, one after the
other, and sat solemny down in a row, and
| each one stared at him 50 hard that he began
tafeel very uncomfortable. Presently Douglas
| spoke.
Ladies and gentlemen" he said, "our
enemy is at last in our power, and L have a
, suggestion to make to you. 1t seems itOftme
that he would be suitably punished were ca b
| of us to do to him, for half an hour, precisely
what he has done to us-that is as nearly as
| possible, for unfortunately, he has no tail.
| Are you all agreed to thiSE'
Ana the whole ten answered sQlemnly, and
| in one NEW: I'VE are all agreed.
| They all rose from the sofa as they spoke,
and Freddy sud ienly observed TINT he, him
self, was no taller than the sma lest kitten had
been, that the kit n was exactly as tallEas he
| usually was, and that the other kitten and the
cats were tall in proportion
Douglas was the largest, and he was at least
| six feet high.
He STOOD on his hind legs and picked Freddy
up with his fore-paws, holding him head
downward, and squeezing him uncomiortsbly
| hard as he did so.
Poor little rhingl Dear little thngl" said
| Douglas, in a soothing voice. and rubbing
| Freddy's hair the wrong way as he spoke.
| 'Come out in the yard and play.
And out into the yard he marched, swinging
Freddy by one leg. In vain Freddy squirmed
and screamed. His screams sounded to him
like faint mewing, and he was powerless In
those great paws ...y ......
/ Douglas sat down in the swing, and, holding
Fl eddy, still upside down in his arms, began
swinging and singing. The motion and posi-
ton together made Freddy dreadfuly. sick
and dizzy, but he had never felt SO utterly
helpless in his life 80 he lay still, except for b
aint moan now and then. Although he
trembled TO think what might happen next, he
was Thankful when Douglas suddenly jumped
up and handed him to Mint, saying:
- It's your turn now; we d better not be toe
long aCout It, for fear ne should wake before
We We all had chance at him