Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1907-07-11

ments with a siga of satisfaction 1t
had been a hard day at the office and,
he was particularly glad to get way
by himself. He turned on the electric
light. hung up his overcoat and hat,
while visions of his cushioned easy
chair beckoned him delightfully."-.
There it stood, wooing him to its
arms, and in it-Pickham's expression
change; there. on its sacred cushion,
lay a huge Maltese cat!
Pickham disliked cats. "Scat!" he
said, sharply. with a fierce gesture.
The a opened its sleepy eyes and
stared at him, rolled over on its back
and. after apparently trying to stand
on its head went to sleep again.
It was simple enough to call the
%ianitor, but Pickham felt that it would
be a little absurd. Surely, he ought
to be able to drive a cat out OF his
room without calling for help! He
went softly up to the chair and reach
ing down took a gingerly hold on two
corners of the loose cushion seat,
raised the and slid the cat
% the floor. Scat" he said again.
The cat deigned one glance at Pick
ham, stood up on all tours. gave a
tremendous bunch to it's back and
such a cape that Pickham shivered
and stretched itself full length on its
side on the big Turkish rug, VIII the
end of its tail tapped lazily fcr a few
seconds before it dropped 1T The
cat was asleep.
Pickham rammed his he DIS into his
pockets and glared dow at the cat
Regarded simply as a at, the animal
was not objectionabl0. It's fur was
smooth and silky; g. had a plump,
well-fed, prosperous air; moreover; in
Its present position Pickham calculat-
ed that it was over a yard long. He
would rat sr have taken up a BABY
than the cat-and he was not partial
to babies.
He turned the c~hair-cushion over,
to avoid possible hairs, and sat down.
The cat was doing no harm, at least;
and the simplest solution of the prob
lem seemed to be to wait for the cat
to wake up, when it might be lufed
into the corridor. Pickham gazed
down at the cat-it was a magnificent
specimen-and something seemed to
stir within him at the suggestion of
companionship.
Pickhams was in his thirties, and
had spent the last Is years in build
ing up a prof. table business; II had
been an absorbing occupation, and
neither cats nor women had taken his
attention from it. Now, as he looked
at the c%ontented cat, stretched out
upon the rug, he suddenly began to
feel domestic.
A nice girl on the other side of
the rug, with the cat between them
it really might be worth while. Pick
ham felt a sudden pang of loneliness,
He glanced about his comfortable
bachelor quarters, and they struck
him for the first time as rather
dreary. The furniture seemed angular
and heavy; the effect was akin to an
interior decorators exhibit in a shop
window. He wondered how it would
seem to have a workbasket on the
severe library table, or a woman's
cloak that hung on a peg in the din
ing-room where he took his meals,
just back of its owner, who sat OPP
posite to him. He remembered that
one rainy day he had come upon the
owner h%urrying along without an I'M
bfella and had escorted her under his
to the d|ining-room. He flushed a lit
tie, thinking how he had taken it all
as a matter of course. Since then she
had neve slipped into her seat at
breakfast without a little blush and
a shy good morning" Pickham sud
denly reflected that he would miss
that good morning"
Just here something rubbed against
Pickham's t~rousers-leg. He glanced
down. The cat had walked up at last.
and was evidently trying to attract
his attention.
Pickham's feeling toward the cat
being a good deal softened, he said:
Poor pussy" and hopefully opened
the hall door. The cat did not bulge;
it merely lay back its head and cried
"Mew}' with a somewhat strenuous
pitch. Pickham left the dbor open
and va slowly back tol the cat
who 5 bwn, curved its I'd il around
its foi rs and gazed ste Adily and
expect PickhREa had all
the ~ assured
socla almoBi
! biust ,uid have
ltlemanly
on r1ofr