Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1905-08-11
FELINE OUTLAW.
Wherein Strange Companionship of Tabby for
Chanticleer is Related
BY LI;Et. VERNON.

Wherein Strange Companionship of Tabby for
+ Chanticlser is Related.
BY LUE +. VERNON.
| The outlaw tom-cat Of the cities il
not unique character, nor can he be
regarded wholly as An outcast, either
of his tribe or of mankind, for, though
he may have no fixed place OF abode
though he may lurk o'days in lumber
piles and abandoned houses and Prov
the nights, venturous for love and
war, yet he is not without the esteem
and clandestlno companiOnship o
! Tabbics who have homes" nor is ht
an infrequent guest at the back door'
of saloons and restaurants where hu
man nightwalkers and pariahs of hi
own sex share with him of that bounty
for which no errant gallant works.
But / have in mind q 1.-the, sleek
cat-I call her Hagar-who live:
apart from her kind, will have no
favors from us superior beings, sleeps
in sort of vine-hid villa in the woods
and spends her days lettering about
the fields with the roosters, OF which
by the way, there are quite too many
for that domestic tranquility which
should dominate every well-regulated
barn-yard. She preys upon frogs
snakes and lizards, and, | suppose
would rot disdain iield-mice. But she
holds aloof from the kitchen, and
seems to be despised of the domesti'
Gated cats, which hover Whereabouts
all day. Indeed she seldom approaches
the house except when her struttlng
body-guard of plumed cockerels ven
ture home at evenings, and then che
sits ruefully upon the outer fence as
if loath to part with her squires.
Karl, the farmer, tells me that
lIagar is the only grown member ol
his cat colony that has brought forth
no kittens. "She took up with chick
ems when she was a month DID," says
he, "and if it hadn't been for the
hens, she'd a-stayed round the house
more. Hens never did have any use
for her. One of 'em pecked that
notch out of her ear when she was O
kitten.
"She done her best to keep in with
EN-, but every time she'd catch q bug
they'd hop on her and run her. Pretty
soon she came to notice that the
roosters wouldn't bother her and she e
been keepin' comp'ny with them six
Young cockerels for nigh year now."
The first time saw Hagsr, she was
wandering through young wheat.
field with her feathered escort. They
cluttered and hovered about her with
as much gallantry as if she had been
the plumpest, prettiest pullet tha,
ever preened wing. And she re-
sponded too. purring as she rubbed
her jowl against their shining hackle:
and dividing her iavors amongst them
with impartial diplomacy. l have
seen her sitting on log in the woods
blinking at the sun, her favorite roos.
ter picking the burrs out OF her coat
q sort of queen of the brigands, hold
ing court in the forest; for this squad
Of barnyard bravos have also been
driven into vagabondage by the estab-
lished tyrants of the hennery. A
shawl neck baron, with one eye, and a
Paladin of Plymouth Rock, whose
tail feathers we're frozen off in the
winter of 1900, lord it over the two
harems into which the feminine com.
munity has divided itself, and thus
far, none OF Hagar's knights-errani
have been bold enough to measure
beak and spur with these war-worn
feudal cocks. They are not oven per.
mitted to feed in peace about the yard
and woe betide the adventurous
springold that essays to ilirt with the
portly fair ones Of the seraglios.
But if the other cats despiso this
Hagar OF mine, the hens hate and fear
her, and think there is something in
this antipathy which expresses jealous
envy for the female, whether cat OF
chicken, that can win and hold for
herself the loyalty and service of so
many young and comely cavaliers.
But it is the matrons of the flock, the
bustling mothers, the hens OF family,
the respectable element" that wage
fiercest war upon the outcsst cat. And
of them, and only them, is she evasive.
She will snarl and strike at an aggres-
sive hen without chicks, but let a ruff
fled mother rush at her and Hagar will
bound nimbly upon the fence or
scamper up tree without an effort at
reprisal. There she will sit, wistfully,
lonely, watching till the brood has de.
camped, when she will return to her
comrades, Turing them away into
some sylvan shade where grubs and
woodlice abound, AMI where neither
cats, nor chickens, nor men, are likely
to intrude upon them.
have watched her on one Of these
adventurous forays, lead her hesitating
squadron into boggy fens, leaping
gracefully across the puddles in ad-
vance and penetrating dark vine
shadowed bowers where the light is
dim and green at midday, where tad.
poles wriggle in the oose and tooth
some angle-worms and luscious snails
writhe and creep upon the water
logged snags and moss-furred rocks.
No snake is too quick for her light
ming dashes, no frog too spry for her
sudden attack, provided she catch
either 90 much as q yard from the
sheltering water, and she will slay her
quarry and hold it for her compan-
ions as if daring them to adventures
and schooling them to deeds Of havoc.
And though they will have none OF
her savage provender, preferring the
languid snail and the defenselcss bug,
yet there is one amongst them, a
spring bully, with the marks of an
Irish-grey descent, that will strike
wickedly at a snake, and crow over a
slain bull.frog with a boastful bravado
that is not lost upon the hero-loving
Hagsr. And yet, ] cannot see what
vantage there is to be for her III this
training of champion. One OF these
fine days I expect to see him Haunt
the gauge of battle at the one.eyed
shawl-neck or the club-footed Ply.
mouth Rock, claiming the harem gal
lantly at last. and in his triumph for
getting Hagar and the brigands OF his
callow days. I saw him this morning,
like love-lorn laggard, laying a be.
lated June.bug at the fair feet OF a