Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-03-18
ABOUT AN ARTISTS CAT.
AND A FEW OF ITS REMARK
ABLE ADVENTURES.
Burned His Whiskers While Viewing .
Candle Wick-Hid In n Pitcher
and then In Rabbit vie--
His First Mouse.

Peter is the property OF Mr.. Louis
Vain. the well-known London artist
Peter can say his prayers; Peter can
talk. In short Peter is almost human.
The following extract from Mr.. Wain's
illustrated biography of Peter deals
with the youth OF this remarkable
parsonage:
The day came when put Peter into
the pocket of my overcoat and took
him away to his new home. l had
the greatest confidence in him. being
a firm believer in the doctrine OF
heredity.
His father l never knew. but his
grandfather. as l have said, bore a
great reputation for courage, as was
indicated on his tombstone the in
scription on which ran as follows:
Here lies Lear. Aged about s
years. A Tom Cat killed in
single combat with Tom the
Templar whilst defending his
hearth and home. England ex-
poets every cat to do his duty.
His mother Cordelia. was of an al.
fectionate nature. caring little for the
chase. Indifferent to birds Except
sparrows). temperate in the matter OF
fish. timld OF dogs a kind mother and
had never been known TO scratch a
child. | believed then that there was
every possibility Of Peters inheritlng
the admirable qualities of his rela-
tives
The world into which he was intro
duced contained a large assortment Of
curios which l had bought in many
salesroom, such as bits of old oak,
bits of china, bits of tapestry and in
Vulnerable odds and ends which had
taken my fancy.
Picture then. Peter drinking his
milk from crown derby dish which
/ had placed in the corner between tho
toes of a gentleman skeleton whom
time had stained tobacco. brown.
The crown derby dish and the skele-
ton were like the rest Of my furniture
bargains.
At this period of his life Peter re-
sembled u series OF irregular circles,
such as geome-rician might have
made in an absent moment; two round
eyes. one round head and one round
body. | regarded him much as
young mother would her first baby,
for he was my first pet watched
him lest he should get into danger; I
ccnversed with him in strange jar
gon which l called cats language; /
played with him constantly and intro
duced him to black hole behind the
skeletons left heel. which was sup
posed to be the home of mice.
He kept a close watch on the black
hole, and one day. which is never to
be forgotten he caught his first
mouse. 1t was very little one. but
it chung to PEERS nose and made it
bleed.
Regardless ii the pain Peter
march up to me tail in air. and laid
the half dead mouse at my feet with
n look in his eyes which said plainly
enough. Shades of Caesar! | claim
a victory, master!"
He returned to the black hole again
and mewed piteously for moro. Peter
was very green as you will under
stand. but he soon discovered that
mewing kept the mice away and, hav-
ing taken the lesson to heart. pre-
served silence for the future. The
mouse hunts occupied but small
portion of Peters time. He was full
of queer pranks, which youth and high
spirits suggested to him.
He took delight in tumbling down
the stairs; he hid himself in the mouth
of lion whose head was one of my
chief treasures; no tilted against
dragon candlestick like n young st.
George; he burnt his budding whisk-
ers in an attempt to discover the
source of the flame in the wick of the
candle.
He became, too. a great conno;sseur
Of vases, ornaments and pictures sit
ting before them and examining them
an hour at time tie was also very
much given to voyages OF discovery
dark continents having a peculiar fas.
cination for him. Even the lions
mouth had no terror for him. once
produced him from the interior of a
brand-new top hat like conjurer an
ome.ette.
Again we were very much surprised
at breakfast one morning to see Peter
walk out Of rabbit pie. in which he
HAD secreted himself l used to let
my canary fly about the room. and
Peter chased him. The canary flew to
an old helmet on n shelf. and thus
baffled Peter The canary seemed to
know this, for when Peter was in the
room he always flew to the helmet and
sacs in peace. If he perched else
where there was chase. but the he'll