Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-04-27
The Mistakes Of Moses.
BY CLAN PEARSON.
Written for Peck's SUM-

which his engagement as a house cat
terminated.
A year ago last summer was out
hunting, and found poor half grown
and two thirds starved kitten wan
dering around on the edge of marsh
in cedar swamp. l fed him from
my lunch bag, and took him home
and introduced him to my family.
My wife took kindly to the little
stranger and christened him Moses,
probably OH account of his haying
been found in the bullrushes, possibly
OH account of his Ineekness.
When Moses reached his majority,
he was large. featured cat, with
light golden hair, blonde whiskers
and full, rich tenor voice Ills
beauty was somewhat marred by a
cast in his left eye and the fact that
he habitually wore his right ear
about all inch and half north of the
spot where it was originally placed
by nature. 1t appears that his aur :
cular appendage was knocked out OF
plumb by some missile from the
hands of an unfuriated neighbor
while Moses was practicing a SYM
phony In a minor-or in said neigh
boris back yard, 1 have forgotten
which.
Although he was blessed with good
appetite and would devour anything
| left in his reach, from dish of cream
to a cake of toilet soap, he did not
enjoy the best of health. lie was
subject 10 fits. Whether they were
epiieptic or cataleptic fits, am not
certain. AS l purchase nearly all my
clothing ready made, | am not very
well posted on the subject oftits any
way. When he was not in fit lie
was generally in mischief.
Moses did not seem TO possess much
push and enterprise, but he some.
times showed great deal Of mild
persistence. Moreover, if he was
troubled about anything he would
free his mind, no matter who was
present. / remember that very fire.
quently when l was writing in the
evening he would sit and look up i'll
to my face and NEW plaintively once
every fifteen seconds for three conse-
cutive hours. Then, when l would
lose control of my temper and take
him by his serial and carry him to
the door and try TO knock star out
of the heavens with him, he would
come and sit on the window sill and
take up the broken thread Of his dis
course with perfect composure.
Moses had one habit which result
ed in an accident that must have
caused him considerable mortifica-
ton and annoyance. Whenever he
was let into the house on a cold day
lie would pause near the threshold
and fall into a brown study leaving
about quarter of yard of his mar
rative outside. One day when the
thermometer stood at 20 degrees be-
low zero, Moses came to the back
stoop and petitioned for admission
to the kitchen. The hired girl OPEN
ed the door and he entered bringing
with him large invoice of winter
weather. After waiting what she
considered reasonable time for the
procession to pass by, the queen of
the kitchen slammed the door shut
with great vehemence. Moses was
not expecting anything of that kind
for the next fifteen or twenty min
utes, and his caudal appendage re-
ceived compound fracture which
rendered amputation necessary. AT
ter this calamity to have spoken Of
the abbreviated appendix of Moses as
a tail would have been gross exag-
geration. Indeed it was hardly more
than an anecdote.
1t was in the glad spring time,
when the bobolinks were twittering
and nature wore her gayest robes,
that Moses left us. An unsightly
stump had long marred the beauty of
our lawn, and one day l purchased
some dynamite cartridges and pro-
ceeded to demolish it. Putting a
cartridge where l thought it would
do the most good, l lighted the fuse
and hastily retired TO the friendly
shelter of a wood shed. Looking out
a moment later | saw Moses sitting
placidly on top of the stump cycling
the burning fuse with an air of pro-
found interest. lie had evidently
made up his mind to secure position
where he could witness every feature
of the brilliant pyrotechnical display
that was to follow. Presently there
was terrific explosion and an object
resembling an ecru cat passed across
the SUMS disc causing a partial
eclipse. The hired girl who had
witnessed the castrophe from the pan
try window came out mournfully
singing:
"Where was Moses, what was he about
Where was Moses when the stump blew outr'
Alas! where?
A rigid search failed to disclose any
trace of the unfortunate feline. Days
heightened into months and he did
not return, and we were unwillingly
forced TO the conclusion that lie had
thrown up his situation.
We finally decided to accept his
resignation.
My wife mourns and refuses to be
comforted because of his loss, but
bear up under the aflliction with my
characteristic fortitude. 1t is one of
those dispensations of providence to
which l do not find it hard to recon-
cile myself.
And yet it makes me sad sometimes
when remember how surprised and
grieved Moses looked when he set out
on his aerial journey and disappeared
among the clouds, reaching out after
the unattainable with all four feet.
l sincerely hope that he steered
clear of the dog star and reached the
milky way" by dinner time.
Consumption Cured.