The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1896-11-11
THE GOLDEN CAT.

slSUanb buTBeOnt Wltu TcRlincHJ tt OT-
leans. In that ancient city, in spite of its
many mansions of the old nobility, suit
able apartments for bachelors are few and
far between. l always want plenty Of air
and space about me, and so 1 installed my
self In a building on the outskirts Of the
city.
/ rented half of the first floor, compris-
ing four rooms. / made my sleeping cham
Der and workroom Of the two which faced
on the street. In the third put plans and
flowers. The fourth was left empty. A
great balcony ran along the entire front of
the house. on which could stroll up and
down, or rather on half of it, for it was
divided in the middle by an iron fence so
low that one could easily step over il.
1 had been living there about two
month when one July evening as / APP
preached my rooms was surprised TO see
brilliant light streaming from the win
dows of the uninhabited apartment
"Ah, 1 have n neighbour thought I,
and was not especially pleased. Going
to my room, / stepped noiselessly out upon
the balcony but the light had already been
extinguished. / returned to my bedroom
and read for an hour or two. From time
TO time seemed to hear about me in the
building a sound as of light footsteps. At
last 1 went to bed and TO sleep.
In the middle of the night l suddenly
awoke with distinct sensation that some
one was walking about near me. got up
and lit my candle. This Is what saw:
In the middle of the room stood great
cat, it's back slightly arched, its tail erect
and its phosphorescent eyes fixed upon me.
1t was a superb Angora, with long, yellow
hair of the color of raw silk. AS the light
shone upon il its fur cleaned like spun
gold. 1t approached me with velvet steps
and softly rubbed its flexible body against
my legs. / stopped to caress it, which 1t
permitted, purring gently, and then as
got into bed IL leaped up on the counter
pane. 1t was very young cat, and she
seemed we'll disposed TO let herself be ca
ressed put her back on the floor and
tried to send her out of the room, but she
evaded me and took refuge under the fur
niture.
AS soon as had blown out the light she
leaped up on my bed again, but / paid no
further attention to her and soon went TO
sleep 1t was broad day when I awoke
again, and the cat WAS nowhere To be seen.
The human mind Is delicate instru-
ment. easily thrown out of gear. Recall
the facts that have just told you: A light
seen, then extinguished, in an uninhabited
apartment; an Angora cat Of singular color
which appeared and disappeared i'm a mys-
FERROUS manner. There ia nothing very
startling in that, Is theres Very we'll
Imagine, now that this same programme
was repeated every night and under iden-
tically the same conditions for week. Be-
lieve me, there Is not enough in that to
affect the thoughts of "a man who lives alone
and to give him those little shivers that
herald the presence of the unknowable
The human mind Is so constituted that it
unconsciously holds to the principle OF a
sufficient reason. For all series of identical
phenomena it demands cause, a law,
and ii becomes uneasy If il does not dis
cover that cause.
am not n coward But I know that
fear feeds and grows upon uncertainty
while attempts to discover its cause reduce
1t to simple curiosity. 1 resol, cd, then, to
investigate this matter. questioned my
orderly. He did not know my ncighbors
Every morning an old woman came TO take
care of the other apartment. He had tried
to draw her into conversation, but wheth-
er she was completely deaf or not she
would vouchsafe no reply to him.
Nevertheless 1 easily accounted for the
first strange fact Of the extinction of the
light when i returned home. had noticed
that the windows next 70 mine were mask
ed simply by great lace curtain. More
over, the two balconies communicated
My neighbor, man or woman, therefore
dreaded indiscreet glances and extinguish-
ed the light on hearing me return. To verify
my superstition 1 had my orderly bring
me from the mess a cold supper early one
nfe n Il
that evening. When night had fallen, 1
took my stand near my window. Soon
saw the balcony lighted up from the win
dow of the neighboring apartment. / gen.
tly opened the sash and stepped out upon
the balcony. At that moment, knowing
that exposed myself to positive danger,
either of breaking my neck or of engaging
in hand TO hand struggle with some flesh
and blood person, my nerves were perfectly
calm. / reached the lighted window with
out having made the least sound. The
window was half open. The curtains,
transparent for me, who was on the dark
side, made me invisible to any one i'm the
interior of the apartment
saw a large room filled with Quaint
old fashioned furniture, lighted by hang
ing lamp At the back of the room was a
low divan, on which lay young and beau
tiful woman. She was clad in loose wrap
of some filmy material, and her unconflned
hair fell about her shoulders like golden
garment She gazcd at herself in hand
glass, barred her arms and pressed her lips
TO the smooth, white flesh, and her supple
body writhed with the graceful, languor-
Gus movements of great feline With ev-
cry move she made she seemed To scintillate
with the CLINT of gold.
was staring at her spellbound when Of
a sudden the eyes Of this strange and beau
tiful woman fixed themselves upon me