The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-05-15
TIE Cats Paradise
A Whimsical Sketch.
BY EMILE lola.

was years old at the time and the
latest and cutest cat that you can i'm
agine. At that tender age was full of
conceit and despised all the quiet com
forts of our home. Yet deeply indebted
was l to the providence that had
brought me to your aunt The good
lady worshiped me. My bedroom was
in the bottom of a closet, and 1t was
handsomely furnished with feather
pillow and tricolored blanket. Ny
food was equally excellent; never any
bread or soup, but always meat-good.
raw meat.
Yet amid all these joys and comforts
had only one desire. knew only one
dream = namely. to slip through the
open window and escape over the
roofs. | was tired of caresses; was
disguised with the softness of my bed;
/ was so fat that felt Mortified when
ever caught sight of myself; hence it
was that felt bored all day long.
ought to have said that could see
the opposite roof from our window
whenever l stretched my neck out a
little. There four cats had great fun
every day prancing around with bris-
Ting hair and tails erect as they sang
their joyous songs amid the sunlight
on the blue tiles. Such a wonderful
sight have never before seen.
The very day when l first saw them
/ made up my mind what to do. True
happiness was only to be found on that
roof beyond the window which your
aunt always SO carefully closed. ! de-
termined to escape. felt that there
must be something else in life besides
raw meat. Yonder lay the unknown,
the ideal, world. One day they forgot
to close the kitchen window. l sprang
out on small roof below.
How beautiful the roofs were! Broad
cutters ran around them, and these l
followed with unspeakable delight, my
paws meanwhile sinking deep in soft,
warm mud seemed to be walking
on velvet, and the sun shone warmly
down on me, and its hot rays seemed
to melt my fat.
Yet | must admit that | was trem-
bling in every limb. My joy was min
gled with fear and anguish. Especial
ly do remember a horrible occurrence,
which almost made me fling myself
down on the pavement. From the peak
of an adjoining house came three cats
rushing toward me with fearful mi
aouws. When they saw my terror,
they laughed and said they had only
intended to scare me. When | heard
that, began to miaouw with them.
oh, it was great sportl The rascals
were by no means as fat as was, and
much fun they made of me as ! rolled
myself around like a bail on the sun
warmed zinc roof.
An old tomcat was one Of the COM
pany, and he became very friendly to-
ward me- He even offered to train me
properly for outdoor life, an offer which
gladly accepted.
All. how far away was your aunts
comfortable home! l drank some wa
ter on the roof. and no sugared milk
ever tasted as sweet to me. Every
thing, indeed, seemed beautiful. A
very handsome young lady cat was
strolling near us, and at the mere sight
of her fell in love.
Until that time these delightful
smooth skinned creatures had only APP
peared to me in dreams. So | ap-
preached the young lady and was about
to pay her compliment when one of
my comrades bit me horribly In the
neck. uttered fearful yell.
"Bahy' said the old tomcat soothing
ly as he drew me away. you'll soon
see lots Of others"
After walking for an hour felt ter
ribly hungry.
"What do cats eat on the roof~
asked my friend the tomcat.
whatever they can find" he an
swered.
This reply filed me with despair, for
found no food anywhere, though l
hunted very eagerly. Finally l saw
young working girl preparing her
breakfast In an attic, and on the table
in front Of the window was beautiful
outlet with a most appetizing smell.
'There's chance for me-" / thought
| tp all innocence, and ! sprang on the
table and grasped the outlet
The moment, however, that the
working girl caught sight of me she
raised her broom and struck me fear
full blow on the back. dropped the
meat and rushed out of the attic.
"What are You about?" remarked the
tomcat. "When you see meat on ia
BILE. YOU must understand that you can
only enjoy it from distance. II you
want food, you'll have to look on the
roofs.'
His statement that meat In kitchens
does not belong to cats was incompre-
hensible to me. Now indeed my stom-
ach began to clamor most earnestly for
food. The tomcat filed me with de-
spair by his assurance that we could
not expect to get much food before
nightfall. when darkness comes" he
said, 1--WE will go down into the street
and search through the ash heaps.
Wait till nightfall." How calmly he
said that, the hardened old philosopher
Very ugly the street appeared to me.
Here found no more warmth, no more
sunshine. Very different was 1t on the
cleaning roofs, where one could frolic
SO comfortably With bitter regret
thought of my warm blanket and OF
my feather pillow.
Scarcely had we reached the street
when my friend the tomcat began to
tremble. He made himself small, very
small, and sneaked past the houses
while he ordered me to follow him as
quickly as possible. As soon as he
came to door he hid himself and be-
gan to pur contentedly. When asked
him why he had fed. he answered;
"Did you see that man with the big
hook?'
"Yes."
"Well, if he had caught sight of us
he would have cooked and eaten us"
Cooked and eaten u.s." cried. But
doesn't the street belong to usf We
don't get anything to eat, and yet we
are to be eaten ourselves"
I Meanwhile the heaps of refuse IL
front Of the houses had been ransack
j ed. found two or three bare bones
buried in dirt and ashes Then ap
preciated the value Of fresh meat ny