Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-11-06
GOOD STORIES OF CATS
COBBAN TELLS OF THEIR GREAT
CLEvERNESS
Sir Samuel Bakers Famous samuel"
Who Knew when HANDBAGS
Were Good Enough
to Keep on.

| IL is hard to kill. that the common
domestic cat at least is an inveterate
night prowler-that he prefers being
out OF nights 1t used to be said sim
ilarly, that the negro liked being a
slave. IL the average cat has been
| turned out OF doors at bedtime-if it
has ever been admitted within doors
at all-his wakefulness at night must
necessarily have become an inherited
habit But let him be kindly treated
and regularly and properly fed, and
he will soon abandon his nocturnal
wanderings. He may desire TO take a
constitutional after supper, but he will
return TO go to bed respecta-
| bly, If he be not persistently
excluded. Cats, however. have indi-
viduality, says MClaren Cobban IN
the Strand Magazine, and even in
this small matter there are some Gu
rious and perverse exceptions.
have fine tabby who has n senti-
mental passion for being out OF doors
on moonlight night. He has no
disposition for concerts or flirtations;
he merely sits solitary upon "a low
parapet, in the shadow OF an ever
green, and gazes from the depth OF
his large liquid eyes upon the moon.
And the Rev. Harry Jones Gin his
Holiday Papers'') tells Of a cat Of his
whom he named Sir Samuel Baker"
because OF his incorrigible fondness
for miscellaneous travel and adven-
ture by night as we'll as by day. Sir
| Co oil do Ia ba, l.1
living in the East End OF London
returned from the war-path in
grievous plight with two holes in his
pate He had, it appears, been
stoned by rough boys and left for
dead. His reverend master received
him kindly. and to revive his sinking
life gave him a "'stiif glass" OF brandy
and water, and plugged up the holes
and bandaged the wounds, till his
head looked as big as cocoanut
Scarcely was this Arrangement of his
woes accomplished when Sir Samuel"
set off ION the loose again, and re-
manned from home ten days. At the
end OF that time, TO the astonishment
and admiration OF all, he returned
with his bandages complete, and his
wounds healed!
OF all cat stories | know the best is
one told by Theophile Gautier who
has written concerning cats with an
understanding and feeling unsur-
passed. He kept many cats, a chief
favorite among which was Madame
Theophile " red cat with a white
breast a pink nose, and blue eyes.
"She slept says he lat the foot OF
my bed; she sat on the arm of my
chair while | wrote she came down
into the garden and gravely walked
about with me; she was present at all
my meals and frequently Intercepted
choice morsel on its way from my
plate to my mouth One day, friend
who was going away for short time,
brought me his parrot to be taken
care of during his absence. The bird.
finding itself in strange place,
climbed up TO the top of his perch by
the aid of its beak and rolled its eyes
Gas yellow rs the nails in my arm
chair) in a rather frightened manner,
moving also the white membranes
that formed it's eyelids. Madame
The0phile' had never seen parrot
before and she regarded the creature
with manifest surprise. While re-
naming as motionless as cat-mum-
my from Egypt in its swathing- bands
she fixed her eyes upon the bird with
look OF profound meditation. sum-
moning up all the notions of natural
history that she had picked up in
hn ri -.
roof. The shadow of her thoughts
passed over her charming eyes and
one could plainly read in them the
conclusion TO which her scrutiny led:
Certainly this is n green chicken
The parrot followed the movements Of
the cat with feverish anxiety, it RULED
its feathers ratified its chin, lifted one
Of its feet and shook the claws, and
rubbed its beak against the edge OF its
trough. Instinct told it that the cat
was an enemy and meant mischief
The cats eyes were now fixed up
on the bird with fascinating intensity.
and they said, in perfectly intelligiblo
language, which the poor parrot dis
tinctly understood: This chicken
should be good TO eat although it is
green. We watched the scene with
great interest, ready to Interfere at
need. Madame Theophile' was creep
ing nearer and nearer. almost imper-
ceptibly; her pink nose quivered. her
eyes were half closed, her contractile
claws moved in and out Of their vel
vet sheath. slight thrills OF pleasure
ran along her back bone at the idea Of
the meal she was about to make Such
novel und exotic food excited her ap-
petite In an instant her back took
the shape of bent bow and with
vigorous and elastic bound she sprang
upon the perch.
Tho parrot, seeing its danger said
in bass voice as grave and deep rs
NJ Prudhomme's own: Have you
breakfasted. Jacko"
This utterance SO terrified the cat
that she sprang backwards. The
blare OF a trumpet the crash and