The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1902-07-17

to us winter evenings, and been glad
to see us at any time in the day. That's
rtore than you can say of most of your
dear friends. She's shared our crust
aud eat up the leavings OF the steak,
that otherwise wouldhave been wasted,
and she's never seemed to lay it up
against us when we drowned her kit
tens"
"There'd have been 10 dozen of 'em
if we hadn't drowned 'em!" said Nancy,
land you don't want to go to getting
sentimental over any messes of
drowned kittens. You just go and nail
up that box of crockery, and tie up
the feather beds, andput the burlap
over the parlor set, and take down the
spare chamber curtain iiXings, and
then you'll have plenty of time to at
tend to your cat. 1t'll be better to
90 along toward evening, Cats don't |
mind being out nights, and it'll seem
kinder natural to Priscilla to start out |
at sunset"
So it befell that MS the shades of |
evening were gathering mounted my |
wheel, with Priscilla in bag dangling |
from the handle bars, and sped out in |
the direction of the suburbs. ] was |
glad it was dusk. A man feels mean
when he is going to drown n cat.
| hadn't gone 20 rods before / met
Jones.
"Hellol" said he, 'what you got in
your bag"
"Cat," says 1.
Good gracious" says he, "you amt
never going to give your cat away.
It's bad luck to give "A cat away when
you're going to novel"
"The next person | encountered was
Mrs. Green. She was returning from
n meeting of the sewing society, and
stopped me.
! Good evening. Mr.. Barker" said she.
"Hear YOU are going to move! How's
| Nancy? Hope it'll agree with her where
YOU are going. She don't look over
and above pert lately. And she's get
ting awful gray! What you got in your
bag?"
"I've got a cat" said I, beginning to
feel savage enough to do for all the
cats in the country, "and I'm going to
kill it,"
"Kill it," cried Mrs. Green. Good
land. Mr.. Barker! don't see how you
dare! It's a sure sign of poverty and
death to kill a catl"
| wheeled on; by this time it was
quite dark, and was close to the river
| left my wheel in a clump of bushes
and united Priscilla's bag in hot haste
from the handles of my machine. Then
with my wriggling burden l crept
stealthily toward the river. ] suppose
I had legal right to drown my cat'
hut somehow [ felt like criminal in
dime novel.
was going to give Priscilla stu
pendons send off, and had lifted her
high in the air for that purpose, when
she emitted yefl that fairly curdled
nv blood, and simultaneously an iron
, hand fell on my shoulder and a stern
: voice said:
mo. YOU don't do it! I've got you
safe this time. I've been watching 1ol
, YOU. You've got dead body in that
/, bag, and / arrest you!"
j., "Let me alone" said I, 81 amt ado
ing anything, and"
= "Good Lord" cried the officer it,
/ alive!"
g "Of course it's alive" said |, "or els'
t I shouldn't be here with it. And
- sbouldn't be here anyway, if it wasn'
| for Nancy"
T "Great Scott" criedthe officer, the
c it's mother is concerned in it! Wha
t fiend in human shape she must pe'
"Well." said |, Nancy is consider
t able of a tartar when she gets rouse
n up"
c The officer took his knife and cut tn
"a bag.
r. "It's fortunate | was in time sai
N he. and then the cat broke up IN
scene. You should have seen her. Sh
n, gave utterance to on ear-piercln
,r @MI-E-O-W." clawed her way acroS
o. the officers face and left her track
t. marked with his blood.
TO ..The-er-er-dicke said he
only he didn't phrase it that way-a
lie he wiped the blood from his mani
ID lineaments, "why in the nane OF cor
err mon sense didn't you tell me it was
ny blasted cat that you had in yo'
OF bag?"
III "You didn't give me time said l.
The cat had disappeared IN u
to bushes. and the policeman walked aW'
e in disgust. Invent after my wheel al
nd found that some scamp had taken a
at vantage of my absence and mace
Id with it. may add that though ma
ing been repeatedly invited to retu
wv it, and 'no questions asked" he has II
nd vet done so.
at. walked home sadly, avoiding Ma
he cy's questioning. | gave her TO
,er derstand that had traded the whe
ed The next morning Priscilla sat
i'm our bedroom window, placidly llckl
at her fore-foot.
he "Heavens and earth, Silas!" cri
ere Nancy, there's that cat been ana II
zen urrected herself, and looks just
ly- peart as newt"
of "Nancy," said /, "I've got few woI