The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1892-12-17
A TALE OF TomcATs.
How They Fisht-.one Dim Mconlight Night
in the Back Yard.

Globe Democrat: sFoncats? Did
you ever see EN- fghta. said jim Burns
at the Lindel}, and he walked right up
and sat erect in his arm chair at the
first mention of the matter. "Why, in
my house VIC have Il torncat wouldn't
take $50 for. We call him Jumbo.
jun, for short. ii slate-colorcd sort of
an old fellow with never a white hair
on him. Maltese blood. ny Youngest
boy says, and he has investigated the
whole cat business from "a 10 lizard.
IN my town. over in Illinois, there are
generally about two tolncats to
square. ',Jum' has his whole square to
himself. He tolerates no visiting. He
is very quiet and sleepy during the day,
likes TO be nursed and petted by the
children and purl's like tealettlc
when you smooth himdown He takes
no notice Of his several wives morning
or afternoon, in fact submits meellly
when they spit Mt him and strike with
their claws as he passes by. AT
nightfall, though, he is transformed.
lie goes on duty with alacrity. Fierce
rs ten furies, terrible as hell. he pa
trois the whole premises, lies in wait
With green eyes under the currant
bushes, skins along the fences, creeps
over the woodsl1ed and other outbuild-
ings, crouches in the eave-trougfs. and
from time to time emits a yee-ow of de-
fanee which makes the old cook shiver
in her bed. Some nights it's very hard
not To shy /: bootjack or q soda bottle
at him, but we know that he tends
strictly TO his own business and means
no harm to the household. But he has
a rival in the neighboring square who,
from time to time, comes over for IL
shindy, He is younger than Jim,
black as night, with a tail about a yard
long, which has the motion of a ser
pent. He is possessed of a voice, too,
witha human stop to it-a vox humana,
they call it in organ-building, don't
theyf Well, in the rise and
fall of that prolonged note, about the
hour of midnight there is more sugges-
ton of ghosts, hobgoblins and horrors
of all sorts than one cmn well imagine
who has not heard it. l know some
day that black cat, with this voice and
tail, will whip jun ] saw them
come together one dim moonlight night
not long ago. The yee-owing' began
the moment they caught sight of each
other. As they slowly crept up they
stretched their neclis out of all pro-
portion, elongated their whole bodies
until their bellies scrapnd the ground;
their heads actually passed each other,
hut their eyes glared sideways like
Goals OF fire. Suddenly :Jum' feigned
retreat. HIS adversary Immediately
bounced him, but when he
got there jun was on his
back and ready for business 1
saw his tactics at once. He Held
with his teeth and got i'll his work with
his hind legs. The fur flew, tell you
They disappeared in the bushes with
yell of fury. j don't know howit came
out, but next morning found ".Ium''
in the sun on the top rail of picket
fence. He blinlSed kindly at me out of
one eye, the other being closed, His
right ear hung down over his jaw.
There were gouts of blood and spots
of bare skin along his sides. and know
from the way he hugged the rail that
it had o warm and soothing effect upon
his torn belly. The other cat must
have suffered, too. bnt lie set up his
old song the next night, and ii he
forces the lighting know "JuIn,s s
sooner or later, will have to go undes."