The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-10-02


of the house, and against which had rested the
head of my bed. The plasterng had here, in o
great measure resisted the action of the fire,
fact which l attributed to its having been re-
Gently spread. About this wall dense crowd
were collected, and many persons seemed to be
examining particular porto Of it with very
minute and eager attention. The words
"strangel" "singularl' and other similar eX-
pressions, excited my curiosity. l approached
and saw, as if craven in bias relief unon the
white surface, the figure of @ gigantic cat.
The impression was given with accuracy
truly marvellous. There was q rope about the
animals neck.
When L fist bcheld this apparition-for 1
could scarcely regard it as less-my wonder
and my terror were extreme. But at length
reflection came to my aid. The cat. renem-
bered, had been hung in the garden adjacent
TO the house. Upon the alarm of fire, this
| garden had been Immediately filed by the
| crowd, by some one OF whom the animal must
| have been cut from the tree and thrown
| through an open window, into my chamber.
| This had probably been done with the view of
arousing me from sleep. The falling of other
walls had compressed the victim OF my cruelty
| into the substance OF the freshly spread plas-
| ter; the lime of which, with the flames of the
| ammonia from the carcass, had then accom-
| plisfed the portraiture as | saw it,
| Although thus readily accounted to my rea-
| son. il not altogether to my conscience, for tho
startling fact thus revealed, it did not the less
| fail to make deep impression upon my fancy.
| tasm OF the cat; and during this period, there
| came back into my spirit half-sentiment that
| seemed, but was not, remorse. l went SO far
aS to regret the loss of the animal, and to lock
! about me, among the vile haunts which I now
habitually frequented, for another pet of the
| same species, and of somewhat similar appear
| ance, with which to supply his place.
| One night as sat, half stupehed, in den of
| more than infamy, my attention was suddenly
| drawn 10 some black object, reposing upon the
| head of one of the immense hogshead of gin,
| or rum, which constituted the chief furniture
| OF the apartment. l had been looking steadily
| at the top of this. hogshead for some minutes,
| and what now caused me surprise was the fact
that had not sooner perceived the object there-
| upon. | approached it, and touched it with
| my hand 1t was black cat; very large one,
| fully as large as Pluto, and closely resembling
| him in everything but one. Pluto had not q
| white hair upon any portion of his body; but
| this cat had large, although indefinite splotch
| of white, covering nearly the whole region of
the breast.
| Upon my touching him, he Immediately
| arose. purred loudly, rubbed against my hand,
and appeared delighted with my notice. This,
| them was the very creature of which | was in
| search at once offered to purchase it of tho
| landlord; but this person made no claim to it
knew nothing of it; had never seen it before.
continued my caresses, and when l pre-
| pared to go homo, the animal evinced dispo-
| ton to accompany me- 1permitted it to do so,
occasionally stopping and patting it as pro
ticated ITSELF at once, and became Immediately
great favorte with my wife.
For my own part, soon found dislike to it
arising within me, This was Just the reyarse
| OF what / had antfcipated; but, / Know not
| how or why it was its evident fondnoss for
myself rather disguised and annoyed. Byslow
degrees, these feelings OF disgust and annoy
ance rose into the bitterness of hatred L
avoided the creature; o certain sense of shame,
and the remembrance of my former deed of
cruelty, preventing me from physically abps-
ing it. l did not, for some weeks, strike, or
otherwise violently i'll use it; but gradually
very gradually came to look upon it with
unutterable loathing, and to flee silently from
its odious presence, as from the breath of q
pestilence
What added, no doubt, to my hatred of the
beast, was the discovery, on the morning after
l brought it home, that. like Pluto it also had
been deprived of one of its eyes. This circum-
stance, however only endeared it to my wife.
who, as l have already said, possessed, in a
high degree, that humanity of feeling which
had once been my distinguishing trait, and the
source OF many of my simplest and purest
pleasures.
With my aversion to this cat, however, its
Partially for myself seemed to increase. 1t
followed my footsteps with a pertinacity which
would be difficult to make the reader compre-
bend. Whenever l sat it would crouch beneath
my chair, or spring upon my knees, covering
me with its loathsome caresses. If l arose to
walk it would get between my feet and thus
nearly throw me DOWN, or fastening Its long
and sharp claws in my dress, Chamber in this
manner to my breast. At such times, although
/ longed to destroy it with o blow, | was vet
withheld from so doing, partly by memory of
my former crime, but chiefy-let me confess
it at once-by absolute dread of the beast.
This dread was not exactly dread of phys
ical evil, and yet should be at a loss how 9TH
erwise to define it. l am almost ashamed to
own, yes, even in this felons cell am almost
ashamed to own that the terror and horror
snI, t1,no .un1.x
heightened by one of the merest chimeras it
would be possible to conceive. My wife had
called my attention, more than once, to tho
character OF the mark of white hair of which
have spoken. and which constituted the sole
visible difference between the strange beast
and the one had destroyed. The reader will
remember that this mark, although large, had
been very indefinite; but by glow degrees, de-
grees nearly imperceptble, and which for a
long time my reason struggled to reject as fam
ciful, it had, at length, assumed rigorous dis
tinctness of outline. 1t was now the represent
tation Of an object that shudder to name and
for this, above all, L loathed and dreaded, and
would have rid myself of the monster had
dared it was now, l say, the image Of hide
ous-of a ghasily thing-of the gallows o,
mournful crime Of agony and of DEATH
And now was | indeed wretched beyond the
wretchedness Of mere humanity. And brute
beast, whose fellow had contemptuously de-
stroyed; brute beast to work out for me-for
me, u man, fashioned in the image of the High
God, go much of insuffcrable woe Alasl
neither by day nor by night knew the bless
ing of Rest any more! During the former the
creature left me no moment alone; and, in the
latter, l started, hourly, from dreams Of unut-
terable fear, to find tie hot breath of the thing
upon my face, and its vast weight, an incarnate
nightmare that had no power to shake off,
incumbent eternally upon my heart
Beneath the pressure Of torments such as
these, the feeble remnant OF the good within
me succumbed. Evil thoughts became my
sole intimates the darkest and most evil OF
thoughts. The moodiness OF my usual temper
increased to hatred of all things and OF all
mankind; while, from the sudden frequent,
and ungovernable outbursts OF fury 10 which
now bindly abandoned myself, my uncom-
planning wife, alas was tho most usual and
the most patient of sufferers.
One day she accompanied me. upon some
household errand, into the cellar Of the old
building which our poverty compelled us 20 in
habit Tho cat followed Inc down the steep
stairs, and. nearly throwing me headlong ex-
aspeTated me TO madness. Uplifting an Ak,
and forgetting in my wrath the chch dred
which had hitherto stayed my hand, aimed "a
blow at the animal which, Of course, would
lave proved instantly fatal had IL descended os