The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06
A CAT ENDUREs MARTYRDoM.
The Quiet of Happy Family Greatly
Disturbed.
From the New York Tribune)

|
Rosie is a cat with many virtues, which
| she lnherits from an ancient and distin-
guished line of Persian ancestors stretch
| ing all the way back to the time of the
elder Cyrus. One of her greatest glories
is her exuberant tailor it was: another
is her exuberant playfulness. which mani
/ tests itself on ill-chosen occasions and
quite Independently of any prOvocatiOn or
announcement on the part of her human
| friends; for Instance. she will often. with
! out the least premonitory symptom
plunge into a wild gambol with the tip of
her tail, apparently regarding it for the
! time being as a distinct organism alto
/ gether unconnected with her own person
ality. II an impulse of this kind seizes
! her while she happens TO be lying on a
| sofa or a table. near the edge Of it, and
| the dip of the temporarily personal
| tail flies cut beyond the limits of the
| piece of furniture. Rosie will spring forth
after it and gyrate in midair like boom
erang until cat and tail together fall in
fluffy, graphing mass on the carpet.
No wonder that this anciently descended
cat is accepted by all the family as an
Asian mystery. Nothing that she could
do would surprise any member of that
household, unless she were to show fall
ing off in her appetite for meat. Her
carnivorous passion is taken as merely
and is provided against. In order to pre-
vent her alighting with the roast on the
family table, ii is customary to lock Rosie
in he bathroom few minutes before din
ner is served. As a rule, she takes her
Imprisonment ThilosoPhically and i'm
proves the occasion to study practical
plumbing But one day. just before Christ
mas. the bathroom door had no sooner
closed on Rosie than she began vociferat-
ing in an appalling mixture of ancient
Persian and modern New York.
'Omari O-o-o-mar Khayyam, Khay-
yami Lemmeout, Me-e-e-out,"
Rose's most intimate human friend and
companion rushed into the diningroom,
pale. hystericaI. almost GREATNESS. and
wildly gesticulating, screaming that Rosie
had fit in the bathroom. The father Of
the family felt annoyed at this; he was
bent on dinner at the moment. not by
any means IN the difficulties and dangers
OF ministoring to an ailing cat with I'M
accountable impulses. As he stood for
a moment debating with himself and
blaming his luck in pure American. the
strange, wild. exotic wailings came more
and more piercing to his ears from the
region of the bathroom.
Where's your mother?' he asked.
tersely.
Rosie's next friend.
Get your pistol, Samuel-quick. the
mistress Of the fat shouted, hanging On
with all her might to the knob Of the
bathroom door. IF you go in there she'll
fly at you. Run away, Tot; l don't want
you to get hurt"
At this prospect of a violent death to
Rosie. Tot flung herself in tempest OF
tears and protests at her mothers feet,
and with her cries mingled the reiterated
Omar Khayyam. MeOut! Meout," from
within.
III she flies at me there'H be dead
cat in this fat" said the master. grimly. |
returning from the kitchen with a large |
poker
Then. amid the agonizing screams of Tot
on the floor. wrestling for the life OF her |
beloved one. Papa sternly asserted his
masculine strength and fortitude. The
mistress of the fiat gathered up her hys-
terical daughter from OFF the floor and ran
to shelter. The door was opened Papa
keeping the kitchen poker in imminent
readiness for a cat-crushing blow In
stantly the Persian American TRADE
ceased. There was a flash of blush grew
along the passage. and all was still again.
Where's Rosie, papa? Did you Kill
Rosie?" came from the region of nam
mas shoulder
Have you killed herr" the mistress OF
he fiat asked all breathless
Never touched her. She didn't give me
chance"
But there's no blood in there" the
mistress insisted in tragic tones
So there was. The white marble Of the
bathroom was all fecked with blood
1osie's ancient Persian blood, without
loubt
But when they returned to the dining
Dom for consolation Rosie was resting on
he tablecloth. She lay in pensiye atti-
ude, watching the tip of her beautiful
ushy tail. which curied and wriggled
nournfully over the edge of the table.
he was slowly and sadly awakening to
he realization of her personal solidarity
With her own tail-now that the tip had
zen bitten off OF il by the bathroom door
For some hours Rosie lay about with a
zig white knob OF linen saturated with
sitch hazel eking out the length of her
diminished tail. Then she perceived that
his new attachment could be made to
ford her much sport when pulled out
nto flying streamer. and soon she had
in shreds.
II is not even yet certain that Rosie is
onvinced of the oneness OF herself and
er tail-what rs left of 1t.