St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-07-25
INGENUITY OF THE eAkIR.


II
Astnte Esrooklynlses r1s.led ~ Free
Of Natural HIstory.
A number of Brooklynites were seal
ed in chop house on the ''lIill' In tha
city one evening recently, when i
walked typical street fal<ir, bearing
mysterious box under his arm. Tn
proprietor of the resort started to hustl
the stranger out of doors, when the ma
began to explain in his glib way tha
he was not . pcddler, but that he ha
merely dropped in to exhibit . rare IN
imal, one he had captured himself b
the interior of Brazil.
''lt's as tame as . kitten" he said
Then he added: ''The likes Of Il ha
never been seen before. Naturalist
believe it to be the last specimen Of u
extinct species It's . rare curiosity
gentlemen. I'D like to show II TO 70,
If the boss is agreeable. You can Civ,
me what you like aftcrward"
mo, no. the gentlemen don't want I.
see the thing" spoke up the proprietor
| testify, as he made . movement towarg
the intruder.
''Hold on. Let us see what the mar
has, spoke up one of the men present
Several others requested that the fel
low be allowed to exhibit his treasure
and the proprietor gave his consent.
Placing his box on one of the table.
the fakir opened it, and out stepped thu
oddest-lOolxing animal imaginable. II
paused, looked around at the company
walked 10 the edge of the table and
then lcaped almost noiselessly to the
| floor.
"what in the world is it," came from
q chorus Of men.
Looks like . long legged rat, said
| one.
"A misshappen monkey or . hairless
'possum." /" interjectcd another.
''Is it q small kangaroo"
"What is it?'
"Whcre did il come from?''
Everyone present asked some qucs,
tion or offered some suggestions at the
sight of the queer thing.
II don't know what it is, gentlemen, "
said the faxir.
II captured it after a hard struggle. "
he added. ''Rarnum offered me one
thousand dollars for il, but ] am at
tachcd to the creature and won't part
with it. It's worth while seeing, isn't
it?'' he added. with some pride.
The men thought it was, and gave
the fellow quite q sum of money. The
animal was small. not larger than .
half grown cat. II was entirely bare
of hair and was Of light liver color.
It walked about the floor, jumped mp
upon chairs and tables and appeared
perfectly at home.
1T is certainly the oldest thing
have ever seen in the way of an ami
NAL" remarked well-cducated man.
''Thc animal is of the cat tribe, / think. -
he added, land yet it is an anomaly. IL
has claws, . sensitive, nervous organ
ism, rs shown by its movements aud
the action of the tail, and yet It has .
smooth hide. really can't account for
such a peculiar make mp. 1t is con-
trary to all established natural law"
Then came long discussion into
which the shades Of Cuvier and Darwin
and several other famous gentlemen
were dragged by the ears. The author
tiles were quoted and misquoted at
length. The fakir stood by smoothing
the smooth hide of the mysterious ami
NAL, now and then accepting drink
from ono or the other Of the gentlemen,
and listening to the discussion with the
greatest of interest.
1t is difficult to say how long he would
have remained had not . young gentle
man, accompanied by . fox terrier dog.
chanccd just then to enter the resort
The dog spicd the mystery, emitted .
sharp, angry bark and sprang toward
it. The hairless creature leaped with
great agility to the bar, then to shelf
back of it There was crash Of broken
glasses and crockcry ''tobyA" thrown
down by the animals efforts to escape
the dog. The latter barked furios,sly.
In vain his master tried to still him.
The fakir looked nervously at his pet
Everyone else did the same. The cres-
ture stood aloft. It's back arched high.
its tail moving furiously. The proprie-
tor tried to dislodgc II, il crouched back
and gave forth = sharp ''pst! pst!''
by Jove! you can't blame the dog"
said the young man. ''You have NO
business to keep such looking cat as
that about" he added.
''Cat?' said everyone at the same
time. ''Why. that isn't . cat"
Eyes it is" said the first speaker.
.'It's a shaved cat The dog recognized
it IL you don't A man who would
serve an animal that way ought 70 be
arrested"
At this speech every one turned to-
ward the spot where the fakir had
stood. but he had sought safety in
fight A glance at the animal con-
vinced the company that it was really
a cat, but that il had been shaved to the
hide from tip Of tail 70 tip Of nose.
It was really . remarkable piece Of
tonsorial work, and those present agreed
that il, for no other reason, the falxir
was entitled TO his money - . reward
for his ability and dexter;tv In shaving
. cat. How the feat could be performed
without IN immense deal Of scratc hing
and caterwauling il difficulty TO imagine.
N. Y. Herald.
WAXING Up.
Said q woman recently returned from