The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1886-08-28

Then come, ye romps Of all the street,
And every shout
Puts pain to rOut,
While pallid sickness beats retreat.
The Disrcputablc Cat.
Nobody knew where he came from,
aud certainly nobody Invited him to
come. He walked into the dining.
room one Summer evening through
the open window, and Tapping one
tnangled ear, or rather the fragment Of
an ear, which remained q silent wits
ness of the many hard-fought battle,
he surveyed the family calmly, and,
curling up on the sofa, went to sleep.
"Look at that disreputable catw ex~
claimed mother, and the entire family
joined in chorus of "Scat!' But he
did not s'scat ;" he simply opened his
remaining eye, winked good naturedly,
and went to sleep again. His inpu-
dence was so cool, so determined, that
we were speechless, and he was allowed
to remain until we had finished din,
ner, when father said to Tom: "Tuke
yard and give him something to cat
and lot him CO." But the disreputable
cat had no idea Of going. He had
come to stay. When the servant
opened the door in the morning Inc
walked calmly in and took his place
on the sofa, where we found him when
we assembled at the breakfast table.
AS the various members Of the family
entered the room his catship was
treated to Il shower of ssscats" and ex-
clamations which would have discon-
certed less self-possessed cat. But II
had not the slightest effect upon him
he simply yawned, wfnked biandfy
with his single eye, and went to sleep
again. The fact that he was unwel-
come, or that his general appearance
was not such as to warrant an enthu-
siastic reception into Il respectable fam.
lily circle, never seemed to strike him,
or, If it did, he did not mind. He
hung around the house for day or
two, until one morning mother gazed
at him, asleep on the sofa, and ex-
claimed, in despair:
"What are you going 10 do with that
disreputable cat ?" "What Is he going
to do with us? you'd better say" re
piled father, sarcasticaiiy. "He's ta-
ken possession" "But he looks 30
much like q tramp" objected mother,
family. "He does look like a hard
case" replied father, laughing; and
there the subject was dropped. The
cat had won by his impudence; and
from that day was recognized as q
humble member OF the family. We
tried to christen him, and called him
Tom, until our own Tom objected I;
then it was Nose, and Rough, and
Tramp, and half-a. dozen other appro-
pirate names, all of which he accepted
with the same easy philosophy which
distinguished all his actions. But
after all, we found 1t easier 10 refer to
him as "that disreputable cat,,-a title
which he recognized by blinking his
lone eye and pricking up the fragment
Of ear in .npst ridiculous fashion. He
grew fat and healthy; but no amount
OF prosperity, =! good dinners, and
comfortable maps, could restore the lost
eye or ragged ear; he only looked
more like tramp. He never seemed
to have any desire 70 be pettcd, though
he endured stroking from members OF
the family, blinking in a half-con-
temptuous way at any evidence of
kindness on our part. He slept most
OF the time; in fact, j never saw cat
which spent so much of its life In
dreamy repose. He would dream, too,
and often surprised the family by sud-
denly starting up from the sofa in a
most unearthiy howl, and then calmly
turning over to sleep again. Prosper
| fly, however, developed two annoying
traits OF character in "that disreputable
cat" One was a most decided objec-
ton to being put out in the yard al
night (and he would sneak off and hide
in the most unheard-of places when
bedtime camel; the other was most
intense hatred OF any one outside o.
our own family. When visitors came
he would arch his back, fluff out hi!
tail, and spit and growl at them, ant
several times 1t was with the creates
difficulty that he was restrained from
flying at them. Beggars were hi