The San Francisco call., 1899-04-23

as the animal seems part of our brothers
dream, we really have no right to turn it
away. Suppose as has been suggested,
we take the little thing, and in order that
the good or ill-fortune it may bring be
equally divided, we will consider it one of
the assets of the firm. Now, how shall we
divide the ownership of the animal?"
"Oh, WE'LL" exclaimed the others, I'VE
will follow the regular precedent of our
people. You, Manockjee. may claim the
left foreleg; I will take the right, and so
on till the cat is equally divided Is this
arrangement satisfactory to all?"
There being no objection to this mode
Of distribution. it was so agreed The
book<eeper was called into the counting
house and the ownership of the cat was
duly entered on the books of the firm as
one of its assets, each quarter of the ami
NAL being designated as the property of
some individual member of the firm
All went we'll with the house of Manock-
jee, Poonjeaiee & Co. for year or so. and
pussy became a great favorite with the
whole household. 1t was often remarked
by different members that they had GER
tainly made no mistake when they adopt
ed the stray little kitten, for surely never
for centuries had the great house been
so prosperous, Trade with the West had
almost doubled. Connections had been
established in parts of North and South
America, all of which were successful
Yes, there could be no mistake, the kit
ten had been a harbinger of good luck
Some time during the month of De-
cember, 1897, while puss was playing in
the street in front of the store its atten-
ton was distracted by some little moving
object and it did not notice a bullock
cart coming from an opposite direction.
q ba
heavy wheels and before it could extri-
cate itself one white paw was crushed
and broken. The accident was witnessed
from the store by two members of the
firm, who rushed wildly into the street
to save their pet.
They carried the suffering cat into the
counting room and carefully examined
its injuries. 1t was found that the bones
of the left foreleg were broken and that
the animal was in great pain. I'VE must
send for doctor" said one. "Of course"
was the quick response of all the others.
But first let us consider whose portion
of the cat has been injured"
This was easily settled. The left fore
leg of the cat belonged to Manockjee, so
it was the duty of Manockjee to send for
the physician and foot the bill.
A doctor was accordingly sent for and
did all in his power to relieve the suffer-
ings of the injured animal. The leg was
wrapped in bandages soaked in turpentine
lintment, and regularly each day the doc
tor made his professional call at the great
house to hasten the recovery of the mas
cot. But it is no easy matter to weld a
broken bone when a cat is the patient
Pussy would put her foot to the ground
once in a while and undo all the work Of
her doctor friend.
In the early part of January, 1898. the
cat was walking about over the tables and
desks of the counting-room when she
overturned a lighted lamp. The flame
from the lamp ignited the turpentine with
which the bandages were soaked, and
pussy flew in terror through the counting
room into the warehouse. The agony of
the burning bandage about the leg kent
the poor beast going at top speed, evil
IDENTIFY hoping to find relief in some of the
snug corners among the bales of silk,
where she had taken many a quiet nap
on other occasions. Before help could be
summoned the great warehouse with its
valuable contents was in flames, and three
hours after only the big iron safe marked
the spot where once stood the old, old
house of Manockjee, Poonjeajee & Co
The partners took their loss with all the
stoical forbearance of the confirmed ia
talist. All things were ordained in the be-
ginning. This was merely a decree of
fate So they bowed deferentially to fate
and calmly proceeded to rebuild upon the
ruins.
But now came the important question of
settling for loss.
Who was at fault? A business meeting
of the firm was held and 1t was soon de-
cided by the other three partners that the
whole damage was caused by the burning
bandage wrapped about the left foreleg of
the cat. That left foreleg was the indi-
vidual and separate property of Manock-
jee, which made decision an easy matter
OF course Manockjee was responsible for
the destruction of the warehouse. There
was no room for doubt
Although Manockjee did not dispute