Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-02-05

| cottage "at Dummerston, on the West
river just six miles FIN Brattleboro'." Oh,
| yes, the Yankee folk came from all parts Of
| the city of Denver to see that wonderful
| front yarl, to pluck the catnip leaves and
to tell the marvellous stA-ies of the cures
the herb had effected. And all this time
the rows of catnip kept growing and grow
| ing and growing, and the fragrance went
| up and WAS waited hither and thither by
| the breezes.
Away up on top of very high mount
| ain near Del Norte there lived - old NAL
tese cat, the maternal ancest0;Sof many
| generations of her species. She had come
across the plains in prairie schooner in
| 1859 with a party of emigrants, and now
| she lived in the hospitable loft of the sta
| bic nearest the summit of an imposing
| peak not far from Del Norte One night
| this old Maltese cat was traversing the
| ridge pole of the stable when she was
| brought 20 a sudden standstill by the
| breeze blowing from the northeast.
| 'Wee-oy-owp' exclaimed the old NAL
| tese feline; and her eyes glittered strange
/ ly, her tail began to expand, and her ven
cradle fur rose on her back
why, gran'ma," inquired one Of the
| younger cats, demure maiden tabby of
uncertain age, why, gran'ma, what ails
| your"
'Wee-ow-ow"' replied the old Maltese
| cat again. "Wee-ow-ow! smell catnipp'
Now the other cats had heard about cat
| nip, but had never seen any. The tales
| which the Maltese cat had told about her
| experiences with the favorite weed before
| she left her kittenhoed home in Maine had
been handed around among the other cats
| of Colorado as quaint legends. All the
had arl fol Of ,L.la
glories of catnip, but none had ever beheld
or even whitfield the grateful herb
Where" asked twenty young cats in
chorus
"Oh' don't know" replied the old Nal
| tese cat, but | can smell it, and / m going
to follow Up the trail until find it."
With these portentous words the old
Maltese cat whisked her tail, gave wild
''Wee-ow,' and started on a run for Den
YER, 800 miles away.
''Wee-ov-ow!" cried the other cats-and
the kittens too-and off they started for
Denver, giving the old Maltese a hot race
over hill and valley, peak and plain, mead
and void.
The word passed around, and the cry
went up here and there like wildfire, Cat,
nip! catniT! catnip! We're going to Get
some catnipp' The tidings reached Alamo
range of Colorado. The excitement was
intense-cats hurried from every house
cabin, barn, stable, shed and mine, and
Joined the vast procession. Every CITY.
town, ham ct and camp was instantly de-
serted by It's cat population. Such yowl-
ing had never before been heard such n
seethlng army of cats had never been seen
The miner in his lonely hut, hearing the
awful rush, sprang from his cot and cried:
The snow slide the snow slide. Run for
your lives But it was only the cats on
the gallop to Denver, Oh. it was a pro
diS1ous spectacle, and the old Maltese cat
led the van
Judge Toll was dreaming pleasant
dreams that night, when he was awak-
ened theretrom by din which threw him
into cold sweat. He crawled out of his
bed, slipped anxiously into his trousers.
seized his faithful shotgun and stole softly
to the winoow. The strange noise seemed
to come from the front yard-yes, from the
rows of catnip bushes
Then the judge peered out of the win
dow, and vi hat do you think he saw
Myrlads Of catS-billows of catsl Cats of
every size, weight, color, sex, condition
and description. Black cats, white cats.
Table cats, Maltese cats, tortoise shell
| cats, brinole cats, spotted cats, striped
cats, brown cats, yellow cats, mauve cats,
gamboge cats, long cats, short cats. tall
cats, fat cats, lean cats, stump tailed cats.
one cared cats wall eyed cats, three legged
| cats, mamma cats, papa cats and kittens
oh, yes, kittens of every kind and without
number And there they were in Judge
Tolls front yard, among and on the rows
OF catnip bushes-purring, sprawling, yowl-
ing like so many demons.
"Pur-r-r, said the old, wayback Maltese
cat, all the way from Del Norte-''purr-r-r
oh! isn't this lovely? It's the first catnip
I've had in going on twenty-five years
purr-r-r! 1 thank heaven that have lived
to see this grateful fruit introduced into
the Rocky mountain regionr'
And then all the other cats-there must
have been a million of them-purred in
chorus so loud that it sounded like an
awful, lingering peal of thunder But this
was not all. Oh, moi BY the bright moon
light Judge Toll could see myriads and
myrlads of other cats surging down from
the mountain ranges and through t he val
ieys and over the plains-from George
town, Salida, Idaho, Golden, Boulder
Crested Butte, lineup, San Juan, Pueblo.
Chucharas, Buena Vista, Conejos, Duran
go, Manitou, Leadville, Ouray. Huerfano.
kokoma, Monument, Rosita, Saguache
and Irlnidad-the foothills were alive with,
cats, the mountain peaks swarmed with
cats, and cats, cats, cats swept along like
swirling torrent toward one focal point
Judge Tolls catnip bed!
And, lol the cats Were coming from other
directions, too-from the arid plains of
Kansas and from Deer Trail, from Monot-
ony Water Tank and from the dreary con-
fines OF Nebraska. The breeze blowing
from the north brought the noise of vast
armies of cats on their way from Laramie
and Cheyenne
The cats already in the judges front
yard-how they purred and writhed and
yowled, and how the srarks of electricity
shot from cir furry backs as they rubbed
aftectionately up against the rows of cat
MP! 1t was in fact a carnival-a cat sat-
urnalial
The judge said to himself, Il will shoot
IN among all these trespassers and drive
them away, What right have they to dew
astate my beauteous exotics?"
But then came the second better thougbt