St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-12-12
he LET THE CAT OUT.
he aags Jske Played o. . CollecteR q
CurlOo,

/ he LET the CAT OUT.
ne aass joke RiayeS o. . Collscte. Q
l Curlos.
Col Morrow Lowry. of Erie. 10 Z
prominent politician and IN ex-con.
gressman from his district. but more Il
the purpose Of this story, he Is q most
indefatigable curio-cd1lector. His wife
shares with him this mania, and theil
handsome residence is . sight for curl
osity-seekerA Among the bon ton o1
Erie il MrA Thornton. This lady had
. cat IN old family cat to which she
had become greatly attached The
animal was seized with the mango, and
In course of time the hair all came of,
leaving poor Tabby q most curious.
looking creature. Mrs Thornton de.
eided that the humane thing would be
to have pussy drowned. and she there
fore called in the aid of Jim Stuart. a
gentleman of color. Mrs Thornton
asked Jim to carry tho cat away and
drown II, agreeing to give him five dol.
lars il he made . sure thing Of it Jim
had the cat in . bag when he met Col.
Lowry. Jim had borrowed an old plug
Of horse from the colonel some weeks
before to 60 to Union and had not re-
turned the animal Seeing him the
colonel said: $50.
''Say. Jim. when are you going to
bring my horse back?"
3 "Well. now. look aheah. kunnel. +"
said Jim. II borrowed dat hoss to 90 to
Union; amt done gone to Union yet
an when I does an gets back l shall
bring dat hoss back"
The colonel laughed at Jim's evasion
and then asked: ''Say, Jim, what have
you got in the bag?"
This gave Jim IN inspirations; he
knew the colonel's mania, and unblush-
ingly he answered: II tell ye what
kunnel, got . great curiosity in dat
bag; you member my brother Jake
what went out to Denver; well Jake
he's been telling me what great things
dey have out dab. and finally he done
send me . Rocky mountain cat; mos
curious animal you ever saw, ku1nel +"
This excited the coloners curiosity.
and he said: Lets sec IL, Jim: like
to look ut curiositieA"
Jim opened up the bag and the col
onel took peep He certainly saw .
curiosity.
.Say, Jim," he said. "I'l buy that
cat from you Ill give you Eve dollars
for It."
'Oh, no. kunnel: wouldn't sell dat
cat; IL was . present from brother
Jake, you know: and then the express
charges wus nearly that much" 't
-
getting excited over the matter. II
have been friendly to you and can help
you yet I'll tell you what Ill do; l
want that cat. and you can keep the
old horse you borrowed. and here is
Eve dollars TO boot; you take the cat
down to my house; your brother won't
kick at that bargain"
"Al right, kunnel; rse gwine ter
'blige yer. though does hate to sell
my brother Jakc's present"
The cat was duly taken to the colo
ners home. and he and his wife devised
an elegant cage for the poor beast So
pleased were they with their last new
acquisition that they gave . grand re-
ception and invited tho elite Of the
city, making the Rocky Mountain cat
the piece do resistance of the affair.
Throngs came and went and wondered
and amazement were expended upon
the feline curiosity. Naturally MrA
Thornton, - ono Of the upper ten. was
an invited guest A soon rs she saw
the cat sic recognized the old family
favorite. ---.l-..
''Why. Mra Lowry" she exclaimed.
where in the world did you get our
old cat?"
Your cat. indeed" said the hostess
in . very much offended tone. 'Col.
Lowry bought that cat at q high price;it
il . genuine Rocky mountain cat and .
great curiosity. jim Stuart's brothes
Jake sent it from Denver and the colo
mel bought il from Jim
'Yes," said Mrs Thornton. 'and IL
was last Monday afternoon the colonel
bought Il That same afternoon hired
Jim Stuart to take that cat away and
drown it."
OF course that settled the curio bus
iness for the LowryA bot what the col
mel said or did to Jim has never been
told Chicago Tines